What I didn’t understand—and what a bank I later tried to get a mortgage from absolutely did—was that a signed settlement agreement is not the same thing as a court-finalized divorce decree. The agreement still has to be incorporated into a judgment and entered by a judge. That takes time, at least six months in California. When I finally understood that, the first condo I’d fallen in love with—the one that made the transition feel slightly less paralyzing—was gone.