You can buy a [u]High Voltage Probe[/u]. They have a built-in voltage driver and they are big & goofy looking (big to prevent arcing). And, like any "serious" measurement equipment, they are expensive.
You could probably find a cheap used one because every TV repair shop used to have one to measure the voltage on a CRT tube.
Using multiple lower voltage resistors is like using multiple diodes in series to block a voltage that exceeds the individual diodes. If the voltage is not shared equally one is likely to experience over voltage and fail.
If the resistors have equal resistance the voltage will be divided equally. That's Ohm's Law... The voltage is proportional to the resistance... That's how a voltage divider works. (And that assumes no arcing. 
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