Don't Roll Your Eyes, Divorce Registries Are Actually A Good Idea

There are wedding registries and baby shower registries. Some newly single people are asking: Why not divorce?

When Stacey Slager divorced last year after 14 years of marriage, a co-worker suggested something entirely novel: Why not start a divorce registry?

It’s difficult enough to navigate the emotional terrain of divorce, the co-worker told Slager. It’s doubly hard when you’re downsizing to a smaller space and doing so without some of the household necessities that your ex may have gotten in the split: microwave ovens and mattresses, couches and chairs, pots and pans.

To deal with the financial precariousness of the moment, why not rely on a little help from your friends? With that urging in mind, Slager went ahead and created one.

“In my case, he got the vacuum cleaner so my registry contains a very good vacuum cleaner,” Slager, who lives in Vancouver Island, said with a laugh. “I didn’t actually take very much with me when I moved out, mostly because I just wanted to get out quickly.”

Plus, she said, there wasn’t much to take; Slager’s now ex-husband’s vetoed a wedding registry when they got married, thinking it “a little too gauche.”