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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

How to actually LTB?

22 replies

iwashappyonce · 25/09/2019 12:33

I'm sick of DH. Sick of nagging him like a teenager to spend time with his own children. Sick of listening telling me how his needs aren't being met, or how I have inconvenienced him by being ill and depressed.

I'm tired of watching his career flourish and being left behind to wipe the arses and dry the tears. I'm tired of his hour long daytime baths to avoid responsibility. I'm tired of facilitating and indulging his egocentric career.

I'm an idiot. The flags were there before we had the kids. We have just bought a house. I can't work as one of my kids is autistic, and I'm their carer. I have no money of my own.

I have the children round my ankles all day on my own anyway so how would being a single mother be any different? But how the fuck can I ltb? I have nothing.

OP posts:
Hitthesnooze · 25/09/2019 12:38

Luckily you are married so actually you have half of everything. Probably more than half.
Get copies of bank statements, mortgage etc and see a solicitor. You might well have to continue living with him while everything is sorted but at least you’ll know that it is on the way to being sorted.

jamoncrumpet · 25/09/2019 12:41

I would be entitled to UC, I think, as I am a f/t carer to autistic DS. I get DLA for him and carers allowance for me. No child benefit because we are above threshold as a household atm.

I just want to feel happy again.

jamoncrumpet · 25/09/2019 12:42

I've name changed again. Sorry.

jamoncrumpet · 25/09/2019 12:46

He earns good money. But he's mean with it, and hates me spending it. We had a relatively inexpensive UK holiday this year that I was told would have to come out of 'your money' (the benefits). If I lined up every can of beer, bottle of wine and packet of fags he's bought in the last year the price would be double that of our holiday.

hellsbellsmelons · 25/09/2019 12:51

Do you know what he earns?
Can you get proof of his wage?
Do you own the house? Or is it rented?
Call around some solicitors in your area.
See if any offer a free half hour.
See if any accept payment on settlement.
Understand what assets you have.
Any bank accounts, savings accounts. ISA's
Get all info together and get legal advice ASAP.
He's a lazy, entitled, financially abusive asshole!

jamoncrumpet · 25/09/2019 12:54

He hasn't taken the kids anywhere by himself in months. I can count on one hand the times he's taken DS ages 5 to the park by himself. His family think he's dad of the year but he does what the fuck he wants all the time and we just have to fall in with it.

I want out. I am scared.

jamoncrumpet · 25/09/2019 12:55

I can prove what he earns because I have all his tax returns saved in my email from mortgage admin. I'm on the house and the mortgage.

jamoncrumpet · 25/09/2019 12:57

Today he's had a lie in, done a bit of work in bed on his laptop, had a long bath and spent thirty minutes trimming his beard.

I have a virus, as do DC, and I've been downstairs with them all morning trying to ignore the ringing in my ears.

JollyRocker · 25/09/2019 13:00

Get his wage slips and bank statements and make an appointment with a solicitor. Youre right it seems a single parent life would be no different and you will be entitled to/get his financial support so don’t be scared and do what’s right for you and your children. Sorry you have to go through this, hugs Flowers

jamoncrumpet · 25/09/2019 13:03

So I see the solicitor before I speak to him?

He won't believe me. He will think I'm just being hysterical. I have asked him to leave and give me space in the past and he's always refused.

Grumpos · 25/09/2019 13:13

Do all the practical things before you talk to him, get all the papers, slips and statements together in a safe place and get an appointment with a solicitor. Do you have anyone who can have DCs for an hour so you can go to appointment? Some will do telephone appointments but again you’ll need a bit of free time from the kids to do so.
If he is unwilling to listen to you, to believe it when you say you’ve had enough then you’ll just have to put everything in place so he has no room for manoeuvre when you do finally tell him.
You are entitled to half assets, probably an allowance for your son and maintenance payments so you won’t be left with anything.
Yes it will be hard doing it alone but you’ll be doing it your way, without some egotistical arsehole causing you extra drama and heartache.
Good luck!

Grumpos · 25/09/2019 13:14

Without anything*

MereDintofPandiculation · 25/09/2019 13:33

So I see the solicitor before I speak to him?

If he's convinced you are separating, then all information about his income will suddenly disappear. So collect all the information together first, get copies of it - perhaps one copy that you keep safe in addition to he copy you have on your computer, and another copy with your solicitor.

You'll be more confident to speak to him once you have your solicitor's advice.

LMNOhh · 25/09/2019 13:37

I'm so sorry to read your thread ...
It will be scary for you now but give it time, it took me 1 year, and you will feel amazing and empowered that you took control of your life.
He will need to spend time with the children if you get a court order in place, which will also be extremely hard at first, but then you can start looking after you, and a happy mummy is a better mummy.
Good luck x

ThinkerThunkk · 25/09/2019 13:38

How are you going to pay the solicitor though. Don’t fall for the MN line of '30 mins free advice' that’s just a warm up consultation, no advice will be given.

Do you have joint bank accounts?

You cannot force him to leave his home without a court order. You might have to go to a refuge initially. You can however legally separate; make sure you separate out your finances from his and claim in your own name. You will have to maintain your own sleeping space though and show you are no longer having a sexual relationship, not acting as a wife by doing his shopping, cooking, washing etc

Put your details in , as if you were single and see what comes up: www.entitledto.co.uk/

LakieLady · 25/09/2019 13:41

Do you have friends/family who could put up you and the children so that you can leave? If so, gather all the info you need, get out and start a claim for universal credit.

Would he leave if you told him it's over? If so, do it!

If not, things are trickier.

He earns good money. But he's mean with it, and hates me spending it. We had a relatively inexpensive UK holiday this year that I was told would have to come out of 'your money' (the benefits). If I lined up every can of beer, bottle of wine and packet of fags he's bought in the last year the price would be double that of our holiday.

This sounds like financial abuse to me. The DLA you get for your child is to meet the costs caused by their disability. The CA you get for looking after him is a token payment to reflect the fact you have sacrificed your earning potential to care for your disabled child. If your "D"H is controlling the family spending to the point that you are having to use disability-related benefits for a family holiday, while your DH earns enough to cover the cost of that holiday, that is very mean indeed.

You definitely need to see a solicitor and go armed with all bank statements etc.

I would be entitled to UC, I think,as I am a f/t carer to autistic DS. I get DLA for him and carers allowance for me. No child benefit because we are above threshold as a household atm.

That may depend on whether you can start living apart.

I think it unlikely that you would be entitled to UC while living under the same roof. You would have to establish that you and he were leading entirely separate lives to be eligible for benefits. Unless you can do this, you would be treated as a couple for benefit purposes and his earnings would almost certainly be such that your entitlement would be nil.

It is incredibly hard to prove "separate lives". You would have to demonstrate that you and he were eating, cooking, and shopping separately, that you don't spend time together in the evenings/at weekends, that friends/family do not regard you as a couple, that you do not share a room and so on. There's also a bit of a catch-22 in that they would regard you as a couple because he's supporting you and the children financially. (Sorry, should have said - I'm a benefits adviser.)

I think you need to speak to a solicitor first. I also think you should start an escape fund and squirrel some money away.

Once you know more about how/when you can start proceedings, you will be in a position to decide what to do next.

He sounds like an absolute shit and I'm not surprised you're depressed. Flowers

jamoncrumpet · 25/09/2019 13:57

Ok. I'm going to start squirrelling. And I'm not going to make a move until I've done his tax return for him next April, because I know that will be his highest one yet.

I can get through until then I think, if I know I'm setting myself up for a better future.

MereDintofPandiculation · 25/09/2019 15:43

If you can possibly avoid it, don't leave until you have had legal advice. Long term you have a good claim to live in the house since it is the children's home and you are their carer. So you need to make sure moving out wouldn't jeopardise that claim.

And don't forget about the very long term and making a claim on his pension. But again - legal advice.

AloneLonelyLoner · 25/09/2019 16:51

Much love to you OP.

There's light at the end of the tunnel. It will be ok. When I got my own flat eventually (btw you shouldn't leave, it's your house) I felt like my heart was free. You deserve happiness and you are living as a single parent anyway.

LakieLady · 25/09/2019 19:51

That sounds like a good plan, @jamoncrumpet

That will give you time to stash some cash and gather all the financial and other info you need.

It might also be a good idea to make notes of incidents that support the abuse/unreasonable behaviour, too.

theWarOnPeace · 25/09/2019 20:26

Oh jamon I’m so sorry you’re going through this!

You need to start recording every bit of everything. I would seek legal advice now, before you’re technically ready to leave, in order to know what you can expect. You may be surprised at your rights and what you would be entitled to if you split, which may in turn embolden you to end things.

My practical attention would turn to the financial side, but I would also be keeping records of say text messages where you ask him to do something with the children and he says he can’t be bothered or some such crappy response. Recording times and dates of him going away or doing something for work without telling you or checking for the children. Times you’ve had crucial meetings regarding your autistic child the he hadn’t participated or shown interest in.

The calculating part of me would be inclined to send him leading text messages and keep records of his responses. It would make up grounds for divorce (unreasonable behaviour, withdrawal of affection, not participating in family life etc etc) and establish you as not only the main cater for the children, but out of the two of you, the only person interested and capable of caring for them.

Manicpixiedreambitch · 26/09/2019 19:59

Is there any evidence of infidelity?

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