Moving out of the home you shared with your significant other can bring up a lot of emotions. It can be encouraging, heartbreaking, frustrating, exciting, or maybe a mix of all of those things and more. You have an unknown future ahead of you, which is both cool and scary, but you also have to gather up all of your stuff and move it out in the present moment. This can be really weird when your ex is around. It may be a new experience for you, but professional movers see it all the time.

When you book your movers, give them a heads up about the situation early, especially if some items (yours) are going and some (your ex’s) are staying. Ashley Graber, co-owner of Cool Hand Movers, says some clients disclose the situation ahead of time “so the crews understand that dividing up items at pickup can be a stressful situation.”

Anthony Collazo, CEO of Rabbit Moving and Storage, says it's "not necessary" to tell his team what's going on before they arrive, but "most customers do." In that case, Rabbit employees add the information to the customer's file so any responding movers can be "extra sensitive."

Zak Solomon, founder and CEO of Solidarity Movers, says clients alert his team to all sorts of situations, from breakages to pests to nasty landlords, but “if it’s something that’s a little more casual, it’s not necessary. If there’s the potential for it to be a little more explosive, it’s always valuable to let the movers know.” He points out that movers are always in a sensitive situation, as they’re strangers showing up in people’s homes during a major change, so this is a time when over-communicating about the circumstances is OK.