Two Steps to Take if You Want to Avoid Stress When Initiating a Divorce
Whilst initiating a divorce is never going to be easy, here are some steps to take if you'd like to avoid becoming too stressed when doing this.
Hire someone to serve divorce papers
If your ex lives locally, then you could technically serve them the divorce papers yourself. However, if you want to maintain reasonably low stress levels whilst initiating the divorce, then you should hire someone to serve them instead. The reason for this is that if you give these papers, which signify the beginning of the end of your relationship, to your ex yourself, the two of you will probably get quite emotional. You or your ex may get angry or feel grief-stricken, and it could be very hard to just give them these documents and walk away. You might, instead, end up arguing or crying. In short, you're unlikely to leave this encounter feeling anything other than stressed and sad.
Conversely, if you maintain distance from your ex, by hiring someone else to serve divorce papers to your ex, it will be easier to approach the initiation of the divorce in a rational manner than won't make your stress levels rise too much. If you still care for your ex, it's also worth noting that it may also be less distressing for them to get these legal papers from a stranger, rather than from you.
Give your ex the contact details for your divorce lawyer
In addition to paying someone to serve divorce papers, you should also send your ex the contact details for your divorce lawyer and instruct them to contact them if they have any questions about the papers they've received or about the divorce in general. Unless there are important reasons you need to remain in touch with them (for example, if you're sharing custody of your children), you might then want to block their phone number for the time being.
The reason for this is that after feeling the initial sting of receiving these papers, your ex may feel a strong urge to contact you and implore you to take them back or just rant at you. If, however, the only means they have of communicating with you is through your lawyer, they'll be less likely to send messages that will upset and stress you out. As time goes on and the divorce progresses, you may feel comfortable unblocking their number and resuming contact. However, during this initial period, you would probably find it easier to minimise the contact you have with them.
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