You are here

Complicated situation. I don’t know how to fix this?

Elle-76's picture

I've (24F) been dating my SO (32M) for about 3 months. He's been separated for 6 months. He has two kids (2yo, 1yo), and an abusive, incredibly bitter, controlling ex wife.

I am in a very awkward position. When my SO and I started casually dating, he was still living with his ex wife (sleeping on the couch). Before separating, they did couples counselling to work through their issues. It was highlighted by the therapist that his ex wife had anger issues (all directed at him) and that she needed to work on them. To protect the kids from the continued conflict, they decided to separate. 3 months after, we started dating.

When I learned about my SO's circumstances, I felt terrible. He was sleeping on the couch and, although he was separated from his ex wife, it was clear they were not on the same page. In his mind, they were officially separated and heading towards divorce. However, she had deluded herself into believing that they were just on a break. She could not be convinced otherwise. She was going through his phone and trying to install apps to track his movements, pressuring him into having sex, and seizing control of his bank accounts. It became clear that she had changed her mind about the separation, and was trying to regain control over her ex husband.

Given these circumstances, I asked him to move in with me. At the time, I just wanted to help him escape. I think morally it was the right thing to do, because he was going insane from the torment of living with her, and I could see his mental health deteriorating from her manipulations. But I'm not sure it was the right thing to do for our relationship, because I feel like I've been dragged onto this crash and burn ride with him and his ex.

Right now, he's still paying for the mortgage and bills of the household, which is completely fair as I understand he still has obligation to his kids, and a legal obligation to their joint finances. But that means he is unable to contribute anything to our home. His ex pockets a good 70% of his income, so he is constantly strapped for cash.

It sucks, because he's an incredible guy. His baggage aside, he is absolutely perfect for me. And if we had met in different circumstances, I would be the happiest girl alive. But we didn't. And now I'm in this trap where I have to support him financially, and emotionally while he tries to escape his marriage. 

I can't ask him to move out - he'll end up homeless or back at the feet of his crazy ex. And the conflict hasn't ended just because he's moved out. His visits to see the kids are organised at her whim, and she regularly threatens to take the kids from him. And every time he has these conflicts, he brings the sadness home to me. And every time I offer him comfort, I feel my shoulders getting heavier and heavier.

There seems to be no end in sight. He is keen for a divorce, but she's too controlling to ever truly let him go. I can feel myself withdrawing from him a little bit, because I have this inner struggle where I feel so, so selfish for wanting to wish this all way. But on the other hand, we've only been dating for 3 months and I just constantly feel like I'm drowning.

He feels terrible about all this. He has told me time and time again that he would let me go, if that's what I needed. I've been friends with this man for 6 years, and I don't think I could ever love anyone like I love him. I just don't know what the right thing is to do. I just need some guidance on how to approach this mess.

 

 

StepUltimate's picture

You have to get honest with yourself: NO you do not have to support this married man. He's using you. 

Too much drama!

Aunt Agatha's picture

The dude was living in her house?  He is clearly not ready to move on.  His being homeless is not on you.  You are being taken advantage of.  
 

Stop it.  Let him figure himself out.  If yours is a love for the ages, he will pull himself together, will get the divorce and then will be ready.  Right now, you are more likely to grow to resent him b ecause he is not adulting well right now.  6 months after a major breakup isn't a time to start a new relationship when you can't even take care of yourself. 

Dont invite his trouble into your life.  It's a recipe for disaster.

Winterglow's picture

This is not your situation to fix. Please step away from it and chalk the 3 months up to experience.

When a couple separates, they don't generally continue living under the same roof. Remember that all you know about their situation comes from him - he may or may not be telling you the entire truth. Whether he ends off at the hands of his "crazy ex" depends on him, not you. It's up to him to sort out his situation and find a solution.

If he had any sense, he'd get a divorce ASAP and get all of his financial details AND child visitation sorted out. If his ex has him by the short and curlies it's because he is doing damn all to change that.

Look, no man is worth all this stress - not to mention the fact that his "baggage" will not be going away anytime soon. By putting him up, you are just prolonging the situation because he no longer feels any sort of urgency to fix it. My advice? Light   a fire under his bum by putting him out. It might give him the motivation he needs. If not, he'll just find another nice woman to pay his way for him.

Three months is such a short time to find yourself in this kind of crap. Don't waste your young years, it really isn't worth it.

lieutenant_dad's picture

This is going to sound harsh, but you need to do a little thinking yourself. Your act to move him in wasn't selfless. You were already dating, and at only 3 months, you think he's perfect for you. No one can know that after 3 months. Not a soul. And you especially can't know that when the other person is emotionally unavailable as this abused man is.

While allowing him to move in with you was nice, moving him into your bed was not. Expecting him to contribute to your household expenses is not, considering it sounds like he is being financially controlled. Wanting him to be your BF while he's enduring all of this is not a fair request in the slightest as he isn't emotionally healthy enough to be with you WHILE ALSO trying to be emotionally healthy enough to be with his kids.

You need to point him in the direction of a domestic violence shelter. Contact one and see if an advocate can meet at your place. Your BF has A LOT he needs to get processed, and with kids in the mix, this needs to get out of limbo sooner rather than later.

I want to make this perfectly clear: you cannot save him in this. Your acting loving and caring in a romantic way only damages this situation further. It's preventing him from biting the bullet and filing for legal separation where he gets control of his assets because you're keeping him afloat. It prevents him from establishing a parenting plan and a temporary custody order because he can visit the kids with the ex and the ex retains control. It prevents him from being able to heal from what he's been through because he immediately has to stop focusing on himself and focus on you.

Additionally, because he's married, his ex can turn you into "the other woman" in court and that can affect his custody and split of marital assets. He'll get CRUSHED for being a "cheater". Family court is no joke, and if you have any inkling that other courts may be unfair, family court is an absolute circus.

Your presence gives his ex fuel to alienate his kids from him, both legally and relationally. He could lose his kids, or be stuck battling for them for the next 16+ years.

You can be his confidante through this. You can care about his wellbeing. But being his GF will have more downsides for him in the present and you long-term. You'll be deemed the home wrecker, whether that's true or not. Your BF needs to stand up and take care of this, with the help of his friends, family, and advocates.

This isn't your battle. This man is barely your BF. You're 24 years old. Do not get dragged into this as a party to the divorce. Be supportive, but do it right. Offer him a room, stop giving him sex, bring over an advocate to talk to him, give him 6 months rent-free before he needs to start contributing as a roommate. But the actual romantic relationship needs to end ASAP.

Swim_Mom's picture

You sound like a "fixer" - people (often women) who like to take on a "project" (often a man). Just don't. The problems are endless with this guy. Who knows what the crazy, angry ex will do, not to mention why in the hell woud you want to be with a man who sponges off of you and doesn't contribute to your household? I know I could not be with a man who expected me to take care of him financially - that is a huge turnoff. You are only 24 years old - kick him out and find a guy your age without all that baggage and drama.

tog redux's picture

OP - you fix this situation by telling this "perfect" guy to give you a call when he's divorced, and ending the relationship. 

I met my DH when he had been separated for 10 months - they were more settled than yours is, they had a custody agreement and each had a separate household.  It wasn't until we'd been dating a year (NOT living together) that we realized BM had hoped he'd come back, and she went batshit crazy when she realized he wasn't. That was when the fun began, multiple court battles, parental alienation, stress beyond belief, and money flying out of our house to lawyers, etc.  We made it work, but it was tough, and as much as I love my DH - 10/10, would not recommend.

You can't save this guy, he has to get on his own two feet. What would he have done if you didn't swoop in to fix the situation? He can go live with his parents, his brother, his best friend - even if they live across the country, if that's his only option, then so be it.  Where is the other 30% of his income going?  He can rent a room in someone's house. He can seek counsel from domestic violence advocates.  There are options - and none of them entails him being supported by a woman he just met 3 months ago. He really should be ashamed of himself for allowing you to support him, quite frankly.

I also agree with Lieutenant Dad - you have rose-colored glasses on to be saying he's "perfect" after 3 months, you barely know him.   At 24, you can't swing a cat without hitting a single, childless man with none of this baggage.  Find one.

TwoOfUs's picture

Yep. 

When I met my DH, he and his ex had been separated for FIVE years, and I still hesitated because they weren't officially divorced yet. I certainly didn't move him in, and I didn't stop seeing other people. To go from "casual dating" to moving him in in less than 3 months is crazy. 

Similar situation. DH's ex had been kicking him out and letting him come back for YEARS. Any time he did something she didn't like (usually something related to his pursuit of his career), she kicked him out...then she invited him back when it suited her. She'd been doing this for ten years...the last five he'd pretty much not bothered to go back and he told her they should get legally separated...she agreed (In my case, it's not only what he told me because on a therapist's advice they wrote letters to each other, and I've seen those letters...) 

And still. After all this. With her agreeing to go for legal separation which is the precursor to divorce, and them not living together for nearly five years...when he bumped into me and we started hanging out, she hated it and tried to offer him the marriage back...and then played the aggrieved woman when he said no thanks.

Say all this to say...there was plenty of baggage and drama with a guy who literally hadn't been in his ex-home for 5 years to make me grow resentful and frustrated. Someone has barely been separated for a couple months, if that??!! Leave. It. Alone.

ndc's picture

This is really not hard to fix. Tell your boyfriend that you've realized he's not ready for a new relationship (he's not) and that he will need to move out.  If he's really Mr. Perfect and this relationship was meant to be, you can resume dating him once he's divorced, financially settled and independent, and managing his court ordered parenting time on his own for a while.  You jumped into this relationship with an older man with a LOT of baggage way too soon; with any luck this will be a major learning experience.

Harry's picture

The man can not give 70% of his income to his ex.  He can not live on 30% of his income.  Think about it. If that true all divorce men would be living in the divorce men tent city.  He has to get this settle ASAP.   The most he should be paying is 30% .  He is using you, he still attached to the ex, he still supporting his ex or you are supporting his ex. 

Rags's picture

Let me see .... I want to get this right.

The "moral" thing to do was to move a married man, a man married to someone other than you, into your home, sleep with him, take him from his wife and children?

In what delusional dimension is that in any way "moral"?  Either for you or for him?

Now for allowing him to let you support him while he supports his wife and kids.  Ummmm Nope!

You are  being played so hard.  Financially, emotionally, intimately, etc......

Grow up, extricate your head from your own ass and cut this train wreck loose.   This man Is so far from equity life partner material it shouldn't even be a consideration for you.

What, exactly, makes this manipulative abject failure of a non man, failed husband and failed father so perfect for you?

We see so many of these situations where "Mr Wonderful " is a failed POS at all discernible levels yet is "perfect for (me)".  It is sad that so many people are so desperate that they tolerate POS people like this guy.

Take care of you, move on to a happy life with this POS and his toxic baggage fading into your past.  Before it is too late and this toxic shallow and pollluted pool consumes your young life and vitality.  Rescue project never pay off for the rescuer.  I had a few of them in my younger years and regretted every one of them.
 

StepUltimate's picture

Everything Rags said. And others above that, especially Lieutenant_Dad, 1WonderWoman, and Tog... they know from experience what they are talking about!

All I can add is that if the situation is THIS crazy and disturbing and expensive and alarming - after only three months - can you imagine the impacts to your own emotional, mental, financial, spititual & physical stress levels three, five, or 10 years down this path? Being a caring empath can land you waaaaaaay in over your head, as I learned from experience (now in my mid-40's) and as many, many others who found StepTalk long ago.

I encourage you to spend time on this website reading the blogs and forums, because you'll read very similar stories from others and begin to see some patterns in how toxic, controlling, vengeful & sometimes just downright mentally ill the divorced/divorcing bio-parent can be (oh yes there are psycho ex-wives, ex-girlfriends, ex-husbands & ex-boyfriends... the insanity of the High-Conflict Birth Mother (HCBM) isn't always the BM!). You'll read about what it's like to start out feeling so grateful you met Mr. Awesome & could "help" him, then finding yourself used & somehow responsible for propping him AND his ex AND his children financially, logistically, and emotionally. You'll find out his kids love, like, and/or appreciation of you can fade out in a heartbeat, especially when their time with bitter, angry HCBM includes brainwashing that YOU caused the split, the divorce, and ALLLL the drama & conflict. You'll see how frusterating and isolating it is to NOT be able to correct his kids, even though they are misbehaving in YOUR home and you are concerned about THEIR ability to successfully navigate life (unlike their raging HCBM or their Dependent-On-Ele-76-&-Still-Married-to-BM father).

I wish you the best, and I hope you seriously consider the advice you've received here. It's not that we don't love "love," we just see all the DANGER signs & RED FLAGS that your warm, young "love" for your OP (as well as your assumed inexperience) has blinded you to. 

hereiam's picture

It's really not all that complicated. You need to get out of this relationship, he needs to take care of his business.

still learning's picture

The married Prince Charming with an infant and toddler is having a spat with his WIFE and is sleeping on the couch. Then enters the sympathetic younger woman to save him from his sexless marriage.  Maybe the poor woman was having postpartum issues or not getting enough sleep, you know with a newborn and all.  I can't imagine why this situation isn't working out for you or what in the world his WIFE has to be angry about.  But I'm sure your married boyfriend is being completely truthful about everything and he'd never do the same thing to you.  

Rags's picture

Not beyond the bounds of possibility.  Sadly.   My XW and I were married 2.5 years in total and were intimate half a dozen or so times in that period.  I honored her desire to be abstinent during our dating and engagement year.  

I am lucky beyond measure that our half a dozen or so instances of intimacy did not saddle me with the product(s) of her shallow and polluted gene pool for life.

Though the OP's BF is a POS.  No doubt about that.

still learning's picture

Monkeysee, if DH was sleeping on the couch and his wife was under the impression that they "were on a break" then they likely weren't having sex or as much sex during that time. Yes they have young children and have had plenty of sex, hence the well deserved eyeroll that I agree with. Maybe a few months of sleeping on the couch of his own volotion constitues a "sexless marriage" for the boyfriend/husband in this scenerio. I beleive OP said that he'd been "separated" since the baby was 6 mos old.  Meaning he was enjoying the comforts of family life and a wife at home while sleeping on the couch so he could slip away at any time.

I find it almost comical that women fall for the "I'm sleeping on the couch therefore I am separated and available" line from married men. 

Monkeysee's picture

I agree completely, it’s an absolute joke. They’ve got 2 kids 2 and under, not many couples would be doing it like rabbits as it is with kids that age because kids are exhausting. Pair that with marital problems & you get a dry spell. But dude telling OP they have a sexless marriage when they’ve got 2 kids 2 and under? Bahaha okay. Major eyeroll... dry spell and sleeping on the couch, sure, but sexless? Not quite.... lol

still learning's picture

The blameless husband suffering from a sexless marriage, exiled to the couch by the cold angry wife (all his version of course)... Lonely women with low self-esteem lap that sh*t up. They can fulfill a need and fix the problem. They are wanted and needed, men on the prowl will take advantage of the sexual opportunity.  

Livingoutloud's picture

My exSO was in similar situation. He snores so his ex wife slept in a guest bedroom, she then started an affair and subsequently wanted to end their marriage and leave for that other men. She then argued that it wasn't an affair because they were separated. He at no point considered it separation! 

My parents were married for 54 years until my mom died of cancer. They had separate bedrooms last 20 years of their marriage due to difficulty sleeping, insomnia and conflicting wotk schedules. They were very much a married couple. how they slept was their private business 

still learning's picture

He at no point considered it separation! 

Yeah, I think it's only a separation if both parties know they are separated.

Livingoutloud's picture

How is it morally right to ask married man to leave his marital home and move in with you? And how is it even logical to financially support someone else's husbsnd whom you only dated for 3 months?

by the way sleeping on a couch (how do you even know that?) is no indication of separation. Ton of married couples don't share a bed for number of reasons (had a fight or nit feeling well etc) It doesn't make them not married and available for dating. Even having marital problems doesn't make them "not married". Clearly she considered them being married. 

who cares if he will be homeless? He'll either go back to his family if she forgives an affair or he will go find some other desperate girl and moves in.

i am not surprised this woman is acting irrational. She was cheated on. She has very young kids and young family and he sleeps with someone else and then moves out to live in mistress's house! No wonder she is upset 

 

 

tog redux's picture

Yeah, I'm not clear how sleeping on the couch = separated.  They were still living together - they may have decided to separate, but they weren't separated. What was this guy doing dating in the first place?

BethAnne's picture

Situations like your boyfriends are where friends and family can often step in and help with advice, support and accomodation.  This is what most homeless people do, they are mostly sleeping on couches, only the tip of the iceburg is sleeping on the streets. He needs to lean on those that have known and cared about him for longer than you have and if things even out then maybe you two might have a shot at things when he has managed to get to a more even place in his life. 

If that is absolutely impossible then I am afraid that you are going to need to be strict with him and tell him that you cannot be with a partner long term who does not find solutions to problems and solve things for himself. He needs a plan to get to a better situation. He needs to show you that plan and then regularly provide proof that he is making progress towards it. The plan could involve saving up funds for a down payment on his own accomodation, it could involve getting information about his rights as a father, he could start reading up and learning about abusive relationships and how to break the cycle, he could find resources in your local community to help him navigate divorce and getting parental rights on paper, he could look into if he is entitled to any benifits from the state or if his employer offers any support with legal matters, it would be good if the plan involved making some sort of contirbution to your household no matter what it is to show you how much he apprechiates what you are doing for him. There is plenty he can do he he chooses. 

If he cannot make significant progress within a timeframe that suits you then you will need to kick him out. It sounds mean, but it is the only way to truely help him. If he cannot help himself while you are helping him then by continuing to support him you enable him to continue to be used by his ex while not putting his life back together. 

Mandy45's picture

Maybe tell him to come and see you when he sorted out his marriage situation. It all still fresh and there will be more problems to come. If it meant to be it will be. But at the moment you need to let him go sort out his situation. Or you are both going to end up miserable the love wont last. 

Livingoutloud's picture

I had the same suspicion when she said its "morally right" to get the guy to leave his family and come live wuth her. It's too out there to be for real but who knows.

Rags's picture

The OP has ghosted.  I am guessing either she does not like what she is hearing or .... it was bullshit.

sandye21's picture

YEP!!

Monkeysee's picture

‘It became clear that she had changed her mind about the separation, and was trying to regain control over her ex husband.’

Um, he’s not her ex husband, he’s her husband. They aren’t divorced yet, which means they are very much still married.

I don’t hate on people who get involved with separated people, as divorce can take years... but you got involved with him before he’d even moved out of their house. You’ve been together for 3 months and you’re already living together???

Girl, WHAT are you doing. This guy isn’t ‘perfect for you’, he’s a mess. He’s a mess with a WIFE, not an ex-wife. His drama isn’t yours to fix, so if you want out just kick him out & be done with it. Tell him to come back when he’s got his life together...

Dizzyjell's picture

You're 24 years old, financially supporting and providing shelter for a married man with 2 kids under 2. This is basically the antithesis of any romance. I wouldnt believe that he easnt sleeping with her or that they were involved or he was sleeping on the couch. You are young his future will always include that ex wife and those two tiny kids who need their parents. The ex wife will forever blame you for being the other woman who broke their marriage and drill it into the 2 kids' heads that you helped their daddy cheat on their mommy and he ran off with you. Really bad way to start a relationship.  Get some self esteem and get out of this relationship.  He is a grown man, a father of 2 small children under 2, already living with a 24 yr old only 6 months after leaving his wife, which means the kids where only 6 months and 1 year old when he left her. Can you imagine if you had a baby that was 6 months old and a 1 year old and your husband moved in with someone? This guy is bad news.

relationshipguru's picture

Way too much drama with this guy! Also be wary of "crazy ex" stories. Just remember there are two sides to every story. My ex made bm out to be crazy, possessive, etc. After I broke up with him (I got tired of his anger outbursts, using and selfishness) I ran into bm and it turns out she's actually pretty normal and had a much different story to tell. Looking back I believe he wanted me to hate his ex as a part of his manipulations, triangulations.