Olivia Howell's sister was engaged when the COVID-19 pandemic began, forcing her to reschedule her wedding so frequently that by the time the date finally neared, her fiancée had second thoughts.
Soon after, they split and she moved out of the apartment they had shared for a decade.
"She had to start from scratch, so she called me one day and was like, 'Do you remember the idea you had? Let's try to build it,'" Howell said.
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Howell's idea, inspired by the dissolution of her own marriage in 2019, was a divorce registry. It acts much like a wedding registry and is filled with some of the same items — pots and pans, bedding, furniture and just about anything else divorcees might need but don't always get when they and their partner divide up their assets.
While the concept is still far from commonplace, Howell has seen many people, including Canadians, jump on the trend since she and her sister Jenny Dreizen started their divorce registry business Fresh Starts Registry four years ago.
Howell, who is based in the U.S., believes the idea is not only catching on globally but bound to become a hallmark of many future breakups.
"I tend to think in the next decade, it's going to be that you get divorced and you build the divorce registry absolutely and it's going to be the way to support somebody in your life after divorce," she said.
"This trend is not going anywhere and it's only going to keep getting more and more prominent."
For Howell's prophecy to become true, the divorce registry has plenty of challenges to overcome.
The main one is stigma, said Natalia Juarez, a Toronto-based breakup coach who helps clients recover from a split.
"It feels like these two taboos colliding. Divorce carries this emotional stigma and money is another deeply personal, sometimes uncomfortable subject to discuss," she said.
"These registries bring these private matters of divorce and finances out into the public and that transparency can stir people up a lot."
Though she thinks Fresh Starts formalized something that has been going on for quite a while, when she asked people on a recent weekend about how they feel about divorce registries, the reaction was "overwhelmingly ... quite negative."
After contributing to gifts for engagements, weddings and often, baby showers, she found some people don't like the idea of being hit up again when a loved one is getting divorced.
They see it as monetizing a breakup and creating a sense of obligation for loved ones, said Trisha Allan, a B.C.-based divorce and separation coach.
While the reaction is understandable, Juarez argues divorce is so common (almost 43,000 Canadians divorced in 2020, Statistics Canada says) that people should see it like any other milestone.
"Just like any major life transition, it deserves support," she said.
Howell agreed.
"There's still a lot of backlash and it's funny because you don't bat an eye at wedding or baby registries," she said.
It frustrates her that divorce registries are met with criticism despite being set up at a time when people are most in need.
A 2021 survey from Canadian Lawyer magazine found the average divorce can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $25,000, depending on whether the breakup is contested.
At the same time, people are often moving homes, divvying up their belongings and realizing they'll need to replace a lot of the things their ex is taking with them.
"Maybe they've been off work for years, raising children, and when everything is split, they're ... not quite ready to go back to work," Allan said. "A registry might really give them a leg up."
While dispersing a link to one could make some people uncomfortable because they might not want to publicly declare what they don't have, Fresh Starts recommends people use it as an answer when they're asked how loved ones can help them through divorce.
If it makes them more comfortable, Juarez and Allan say people can also frame the registry around a housewarming or ask a loved one to set it up and circulate it for them.
Though neither have had a client use a registry, they're not knocking the concept, especially if people find it useful.
"With everything, there's always going to be different views and how different people feel," Allan said, "but ultimately somebody is going through a divorce and seeking support, and this is a method that could be available to them."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2025.
