I always break the axle nut by hand. Its not as hard as some make it out to be.

As for seperation of the axle from the tranny trust me you don't want to take the CV apart if you can avoid it at all costs....time consuming and a pain in the ass.

To remove it from the tranny simply take a sizeable screwdriver and place it in the tiny space where the axle and the tranny then work it back and forth and it should slide right out. YOu will get some fluid leakage but you can plug it with a rag to minimize mess or let it drain out into a pan and refill your tranny after both sides are done.

General rule is if one side is bad go ahead and replace the other as well since it can't be too far behind and it saves you hassle in the end.