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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Calling DP 'hubby' when not married?

661 replies

stqueen · 15/06/2015 22:21

This is winding me up far more than it should be. I have a friend (actually one of my oldest friends who is lovely) who refers to her DP, in person & on social media, as her 'hubby' or 'hubs'. FB status posted at the weekend referring to her 'lovely hubby'. They are not married & never have been ! Many couples consciously choose not to marry & it isn't a big deal these days simply to have a long term DP. They have 2 children together so I suppose she feels married but I feel it makes a mockery out of those who ARE married! I have asked her why she does it, she simply says she feels married & he is her DH in all but a marriage certificate. As I said, this is winding me up far more than it should be, perhaps I have too much time on my hands noticing these things but she's done it for years & its really starting to get on my nerves! AIBU?

OP posts:
Thurlow · 19/06/2015 12:47

How can the children really not know if the parents are married or not? My son has a friend who is unclear on this! That presumably means his mother has lied to him

Why would this mean they have lied? It just might not have come up in conversation. Kids take a very literally view of the world. Until we're asked about our wedding or to see wedding photos, then I can't see how it could just crop up in conversation. And even then DC might be too young to understand what that really means.

And why is it that truly important? Unless you're thinking that we should all point out, at some stage, "that mummy and daddy aren't as committed to each other as some other mummies and daddies because we didn't have a party and sign a register, and we've clearly made far less sensible financial decisions for your future, so don't get too attached to us as a family or this house"

Maybe your friends son's has just never asked his parents outright. I don't find it that weird he doesn't know. Or do you walk around your house calling each other "husband" and "wife" and making sure the kids look at the wedding certificate on a regular basis?

Aussiemum78 · 19/06/2015 12:49

Actually in Australia the legal definition of spouse is either married or defacto partner. On tax forms etc they are treated exactly the same.

So when I use the term spouse on my tax return I'm 100% not lying. Grin

Aussiemum78 · 19/06/2015 12:56

Our daughter knows we aren't married. It's not a state secret.

She didn't even get traumatised by the shock lol. Surprisingly enough she doesn't care.

She did get upset lately to learn her great aunt is married (and has been for 30 years) and nobody told her! Lol

keeptothewhiteline · 19/06/2015 12:56

My son has a friend who is unclear on this! That presumably means his mother has lied to him.

Not at all- it may be that is is too insignificant to mention. My kids don't give a rat's arse.
Most of their schoolfriends have parents that are unmarried or have been married and divorced.

keeptothewhiteline · 19/06/2015 13:01

And why is it that truly important? Unless you're thinking that we should all point out, at some stage, "that mummy and daddy aren't as committed to each other as some other mummies and daddies because we didn't have a party and sign a register, and we've clearly made far less sensible financial decisions for your future, so don't get too attached to us as a family or this house"

Exactly!!

My kids were around 8 or 9 when they asked if we were married.
It's not a subject that would come up in conversation.

Should I have taken my 6 year old to one side and given a serious talk about how it's time he should know tat we are not a real couple after all?

When my children asked and I replied it had the same significance as if I had said it might rain today.

LotusLight · 19/06/2015 13:29

The one I am thinking of is a teenager and I think the family (fairly strict Muslim) don't like to explain why the mother does not live with the child's father so I expect the total silence of the issue even to the boy is because of shame.

The bastard /illegitimate children born over the brush of the average unmarried UK live in lovers are not thankfully subject to the same shame these days!

My only issue is legal accuracy as there is a bit of a problem particularly with some younger teenagers and students in now knowing how important accuracy and communication skills are with employers and it is a pity for those children who then do not get the job etc.

I certainly agree that language changes even if the law has not. Also as old as the hills is the term "common law wife". I read a very interesting History of Sex I think it was called covering English marriage from about the year 1000 and different attitudes to that by an Oxbridge professor. I think he said going back far enough most people didn't even marry in Medieval villages as marriage was a formal contractual thing about money, title and power and if you don't have a bean then it's pointless. Then slowly the church held more sway and did not want sex outside of formal church marriage, then it waned again.

For me the main thing is that we never introduce laws treating live in lovers like spouses on a split. There is no way I want a man grabbing my money just because he stays over or lives here but is not a "husband" with the marriage certificate to prove it.

keeptothewhiteline · 19/06/2015 13:33

live in lovers

I am loving that archaic term.

There is no way I want a man grabbing my money just because he stays over or lives here but is not a "husband" with the marriage certificate to prove it.

But you are happy for your legally married husband to "grab your money"?

Thurlow · 19/06/2015 14:04

For me the main thing is that we never introduce laws treating live in lovers like spouses on a split. There is no way I want a man grabbing my money just because he stays over or lives here but is not a "husband" with the marriage certificate to prove it.

Can you not see there is a middle ground between these two?

My partner of 15 years and the father of my child is not my live in lover.

However he is not my husband either.

Reactionary comments like that don't help us look for the sensible middle ground where you could, for example, nominate someone as a next of kin and financial/legal partner without having to get married. They manage it perfectly well in France.

sprackenzyboiled · 19/06/2015 14:43

The government's certificate is not, logically speaking, the sole marker of marriage in any but the legal sense, and as such you should not expect someone else to admit they are "not married" according to your benchmark (and stop referring to their husband), unless you are prepared to make an accompanying statement that you are also "not married" (and stop referring to your husband) because you did not swear vows to God, or Allah, or whatever.

bbcessex · 19/06/2015 16:00

Lotuslight.. I at first thought you were rational and supportive of the thread, but with your "bastard / illegitimate' quote and your 'live in lover' aspects, I can now see that you a being deliberately inflammatory. Pah.

**

Whoever said "how can children not know if their parents are married".. Children don't give a flying damn... Plenty of married / unmarried parents and all varying levels within, in these parts. Hardly think it would cross the children's minds at all...

(although my DS still pretends to be mighty fed up that my DD got to go to our wedding (aged 3.5) and he (not being born,) didn't.)

CactusAnnie · 19/06/2015 19:54

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LotusLight · 19/06/2015 21:00

Am I happy that lover earner spouses (by which I mean married in law, not people pretending to be a spouse when they are not) can rip off their other half on a divorce - of course not. English divorce law is known throughout the world as utterly unfair on higher earners.

DonTChew · 19/06/2015 21:15

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LotusLight · 20/06/2015 11:28

I haven't been employed for 20 years and I don't think I could again. I prefer to keep all the money and own.....
I think we know I mean lower earner spouse but it might be a Freudian slip. Plenty of spouses have lovers, sadly and often there are financial issues at play.

MrsV2012 · 20/06/2015 11:51

Perhaps Bridget Jones had a point all those years ago, referring to 'Smug Marrieds' Grin

DonTChew · 20/06/2015 13:53

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BlueBlueSea · 20/06/2015 14:08

Bridget: The only thing worse than smug married couple; lots of smug married couples. Grin

RhiWrites · 20/06/2015 15:28

I don't see that it functionally makes any difference if you call someone your hubby/husband and you are married or if you aren't. Married couples divorce, committed partnerships end. Married people also stay together and so do committed partners. What you call your partner doesn't make any difference to anyone but you.

Personally, I call mine my partner. And I interpret husband/wife/spouse/etc as all equivalent terms to "partner" in my head.

LotusLight · 20/06/2015 16:55

Don, that shows why words really matter. "Employed" has a meaning - look in the dictionary.

I have not been an employee for 20 years. I own my business. I am self employed. I work for myself. I am not an employee. I have no employees.

Hence one can have clients and not be employed.

This is why words matter so much as they aid understanding and give people clarity.

MitzyLeFrouf · 20/06/2015 16:59

How many times are you going to say 'words matter'?

Roughly?

LotusLight · 20/06/2015 17:56

I'm not no radio 4's Just a Minute so can say words matter repeatedly if I choose as that is indeed the whole point of the thread.

DonTChew · 20/06/2015 20:37

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DonTChew · 20/06/2015 20:38

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ChocolateWombat · 20/06/2015 22:22

People can refer to themselves as Mrs, wife or married, when the widely accepted definition of the term does not fit them. That is their choice, but not surprisingly, many people will be slightly confused/surprised by it, in the same way that they would be if anyone used any other widely used term which has an accepted definition incorrectly. Most people won't be annoyed by it like the OP or even give it much thought, but will be rather surprised, if it someone they know, rather than just a stranger in a shop etc.

People on here have given reasons why they do it. Some make sense to me and some don't really, but it is their choice. People who are legally married don't have any control over who uses the word and who doesn't , in the same way, someone who is employed cannot prevent someone who isn't employed saying they are, or someone who does one job, referring to themselves by a different job title, or someone who lives in one town saying they live in the bordering town etc etc. With all of these, apart from in legal situations or job interviews, people might just raise an eyebrow and wonder why someone would do this briefly, but that would be all. Same on here.

Personally I think that words and their use do matter. Sometimes I find there isn't a word I like to express something, but I don't totally misapply an alternative word which means something quite different. Language is and has to be a common framework for it to work. Yes, it evolves over time and it maybe that another word for people in long term unmarried relationships appears, but until it does, the ones such as 'partner' 'other half' or 'my man' etc which have clear meanings, seem better and importantly accurate.

sprackenzyboiled · 20/06/2015 23:46

"by which I mean married in law, not people pretending to be a spouse when they are not"

I think if a person is using the word "husband" or "wife" but is openly not registered with the state as married and you know they are not, there is a slim to vanishing chance they are interested in "pretending to be" married.

After all, if someone wanted to "pretend they were registered with the state as married" they would simply say they were, and you wouldn't have the first clue or reason to doubt them.

I think any person of normal intelligence understands that would be easy, and that the accusation that people are "pretending to be married" when they have let it be known they aren't, is a slur and an excuse to be judgy.

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