How to Create a Divorce Registry

Creating a divorce registry on the ReStart takes about five minutes. This is a guide to the process, and to the slightly harder question underneath it: what do you actually put on the list?

## Step 1: Create Your Account

Go to the ReStart and [create a free account](/register). You’ll need an email address and a password — that’s it. No credit card, no subscription.

## Step 2: Start a Registry

From your account dashboard, click “[Start a Registry](/start-a-registry).” You’ll be asked to give it a name and a short description and an optional photo. The name can be anything: your name, “My Fresh Start,” or simply “Alex’s Registry.” The description is optional but gives gift-givers a little context — something like “Starting over after 12 years and in need of basically everything” or just “New apartment, new chapter.”

## Step 3: Add Items

Here’s where it gets practical. From any online retailer — Amazon, Target, Wayfair, Crate & Barrel, wherever you shop — find a product you want and copy the URL. Paste it into your registry, and the ReStart pulls in the product name, image, and price automatically. Add a quantity if you want more than one, and an optional note if there’s context that would help (“This replaces the one we split — finally getting my own”).

You can add items from as many different retailers as you want. There’s no restriction to a single store.

## Step 4: Set Your Privacy Preference

By default, your registry is private. Only people with your direct link can see it. If you want your registry to be discoverable on the [Find a Registry](/find-a-registry) page — so that extended family or acquaintances can find it without you having to send them a link directly — you can switch it to public in your settings. Both options work; it’s just a matter of how widely you want to share.

## What to Put on a Divorce Registry

This is the part people get stuck on. Start by thinking about what you had as a shared household that you don’t have anymore. Then fill in the gaps.

**Kitchen basics**
Cookware is expensive and gets divided fast. A good skillet, a pot for pasta, a baking sheet. A coffee maker, if that was theirs. A set of mixing bowls. A knife or two. Plates and bowls and a decent mug.

**Bedroom and bathroom**
Sheets, a duvet or comforter, pillows. Towels. If you’re sleeping on a mattress on the floor, a bed frame. A lamp for the nightstand.

**Living room**
A couch or chair if you need one. A rug. A lamp. The small things that make a space feel lived-in rather than temporary.

**Practical household items**
A vacuum. An iron. A laundry hamper. A toolset. Things that feel boring to ask for but that you immediately notice when you don’t have them.

**Things just for you**
This is the one people skip and shouldn’t. A good book. A yoga mat. That kitchen gadget you always wanted but the household never needed. Your registry doesn’t have to be purely functional. It can also just be things that feel like a new beginning.

## No Rulebook Required

There’s no standard template for a divorce registry, and that’s part of the point. You know what you need. Build the list that reflects your actual life, [share it with the people you trust](/articles/how-to-share-your-divorce-registry), and let them do the rest.

You can edit your registry at any time — add items, remove them, reorder them. It’s yours.