Does severance delay my unemployment claim?

My employer is paying severance in instalments and I am not sure whether to file now. This is my first time dealing with any of this. I also wonder about the job-search requirement. Did you file straight away?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 12 months ago, and it got easier once I kept a simple log of every call and form.

Some states only count certain kinds of severance. A local workforce centre could tell me which.