I separated from my partner a couple of weeks ago. We were together for 16 months. When we met he was financially stable - very wealthy, even. However during our relationship things got worse and there were times when he literally did not have a penny to his name. He has 3 children and everything he earned was going on supporting them (he wasn't a reckless gambler or anything).
During one of these times I lent him £200. He didn't ask, I offered because at the time I could spare it. I also paid a parking fine for him which totalled £150 because his car had been impounded and he needed it for work, etc. It was only ever a loan and he was keen to repay it, in instalments probably.
He was letting me use one of his two laptops for work while we were together and when things looked difficult he said that I could keep the laptop in lieu of the £200 because he thought it was worth roughly that. That was fine by me. However when the end actually came, he was cross and removed the laptop. Literally demanded it and he wasn't the most stable character so I gave it to him. Nothing had changed by the way, he was just being spiteful (I think).
I am now in a position where I need the £200 back (actually NEED, not would like) It would be useful to have the other £150 too but there were no specific arrangements for that so I don't really plan to ask for it.
The split was a bitter one and we are not in contact. So my question is AIBU to ask for the money back, knowing (or suspecting) that he can't really afford it? I suppose I'm feeling a bit annoyed because I covered lots of joint costs while we were together and also did a lot of work for him for free (agreed free). I don't want to be U - but I do need the money. No-one would suffer apart from him, he's a dedicated father and his children come first.