How to use the planner
The HRA Family Law Planner is a free, confidential tool designed to help you gather and organise your facts, budget, and discussion topics before consulting an attorney or family mediator. Here is how it works.
1. Getting started & guest mode
You can start immediately — no sign-up or registration is required.
When you open the planner, you are in guest mode. You can fill out all three modules (Divorce preparation, Budget, and Mediation preparation) and review your complete summary in the Preparation pack.
Important guest rule: Work stays in your open tab
In guest mode, your entries exist only in your browser tab's active memory. If you refresh the page, close the browser, or turn off your device without saving, your entries will be lost. To keep your work, either create an account or download an encrypted backup file.
2. Keeping your work: Two distinct options
Choose between an encrypted local file or a password-protected cloud account.
Option A: Encrypted backup (.hra)
No account required. Click "Backup (.hra)" in the bottom save bar or visit the Privacy & data page to download a file to your device.
- Locked with a 12–200 character passphrase you choose.
- Uses bank-grade AES-256-GCM encryption.
- There is no passphrase recovery. If you forget your passphrase, the file cannot be unlocked.
- You can restore this file anytime into any browser or the Chrome extension.
Option B: Optional cloud account
Manual draft saving. Create an account using email and password to store named drafts securely on our server.
- Saves are always manual: The app never auto-saves your entries in the background.
- Keep the original tab open: When you sign up, check your email for the verification link, then return to the same tab to sign in and save. Entries do not move across tabs automatically.
- Multiple named drafts let you model different financial scenarios.
3. Readable PDF vs Encrypted Backup
Understanding the difference between the two export formats.
Generated from the Preparation pack page. It produces a formatted, human-readable summary designed to bring to your consultation or email to your lawyer. Anyone who has the file can read it.
A password-locked data file that can only be reopened inside the planner tool. It cannot be read as a document by humans or search engines. Use this to safely archive your working entries.
4. Chrome Extension vs Web Companion
How the two targets relate to each other.
The Chrome Extension is a self-contained, fully offline planner that runs directly inside your browser toolbar without contacting any external servers.
- Extension storage: Keeps entries safely offline in your local extension storage.
- Moving between extension & web: Export an encrypted
.hrafile from the extension and import it into the web planner (or vice versa). - Web accounts: Account sign-in and cloud sync are available on the web companion (
planner.raichlinattorneys.co.za).
5. Legal boundaries & confidentiality
What this tool does and does not do.
- Not legal advice: This planner helps you gather information. It does not calculate statutory maintenance formulas, predict court outcomes, or draft binding pleadings.
- Unverified information: Entering figures or circumstances here does not constitute formal disclosure or legal verification.
- No automatic delivery to HRA: Nothing you enter is sent to Hugh Raichlin Attorneys unless you choose to print your summary and bring it to a formal consultation.
- Sensitive details: Please do not type children's full identity numbers, bank account numbers, or sensitive incident narratives into open text fields.