Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Dads behaviour and relationship since my mum died

147 replies

Kevinthebird007 · 28/11/2022 16:07

As a background, my dad has always told me he was bisexual. He has had both male and female relationships during his life, but since 1985 had been with my mum. Sadly she passed away from cancer last year after a short battle with the disease. They were happy, but dad had periods of time in prison for fraud, obtaining funds by deception etc. The last time he was in prison was in 2015 for 6 months. He missed his own 70th, my DS1s 1st and my 30th. I was also aware that my dad was messaging men explicit messages while with my mum because on occasion he would accidentally send them to me.
My mum passed away in October 2021 and in january of this year dad declared he had met someone; a 28 year old young man that he'd bumped into in a hotel and they'd got chatting. Things seemed to escalate quickly, with the chap visiting my dad's home and staying for periods of time. Whereas my dad had said my children and I couldn't sit in my mums chair, this chap could which upset me. They went out for lots of dinners etc but he assured me that they were splitting bills and that actually his new partner was from a wealthy background studying a PhD so had no need to gold dig. A couple of months in, dad told me that his partner had asked him to move up to Manchester to be with him. I suggested this wasn't a good idea, he'd be far away from all friends and family. He told me that he wouldn't, then said he was using some money from my mums estate to buy the house he was in so that we could inherit it when the time came. A month later my dad called me begging for money saying that he needed it for a house exchange in Manchester. I refused. I had no money to offer and I didn't approve of him moving up there. He told me that the relationship had then ended because of that. A few weeks later dad called saying he was getting death threats etc from a man he owed money to. I had calls from neighbours and strangers (I live 3 hrs from dad) saying he owed them money, that he'd taken deposits from people for them to move into the house only for him to then disappear etc. I then found out he hadn't bought the house he was in at all. He's spent all of my mums estate (nearly £600k) and the remainder in shares he can't release. He's spent savings my mum had built up for my children, he's also spent a house deposit mum had left to me. He stole money from my uncle (my mums brother) including off of bank cards, credit cards etc while he was in hospital and my uncle has since died. My cousins now hate my dad and have cut him off. I have now found that the partner was an escort. Dad tells me he never met him as an escort but during the time they were together this guy would msg him asking for money and dad would give it, selling and stealing whatever he could. It also transpires the guy was 20,not 28. My dad is 77.

I am the only person my dad has left. I feel guilty because I don't want him with us at Christmas as I hate him for what he's done. He's my dad and I love him but he's driven a truck through my mums memory and made a mess of our lives. Do I invite him for Christmas? Or do i stick to my guns. AIBU?

OP posts:
WoolyMammoth55 · 29/11/2022 12:16

Hi OP, my dad is no where near as bad as yours but there are faint echoes and I understand your pain very well.

I spent a long time and a lot of emotional energy doing what a therapist described as "trying with all my strength to push open a door marked PULL" - as if I could get to the version of him I desperately wanted if I just tried hard enough.

The reason the door's marked PULL is that both my dad and yours have told us who they are - they're liars, unkind, and withholding (and in your dad's case also a convicted financial criminal). These men are giving us no reason to hope that they'll ever change.

All you can do is stop pushing at the door that's never going to open, and walk away. Give your love to people who will love you back (and not steal from you).

However, if there are sentimental items that remind you of your mum that you think he might not have sold yet, then I personally would make one, specific, time-limited attempt to get those from him before going NC.

Just tell him that you're coming to get some stuff, and then go, and get it. And then never speak to him again. Definitely don't give him any more money - honestly, he's taken enough from you a million times over.

Then get lots of specialised counselling and try to heal, because life is short and you can't let him ruin yours any more than he already has done.

Very best of luck xx

Gerwurtztraminer · 29/11/2022 12:30

Kevinthebird007 · 29/11/2022 09:44

The only question remaining for me is, if he meets someone, changes his will etc so I am no longer the beneficiary, what about my mother's things that are still in his possession which she wanted me to have. Do i just have to assume that I will never receive those things or have access to any of my possessions still at the house (nothing big, mainly sentimental stuff from my childhood)

Sentimental things are still only 'stuff'. Due to the way my parents split up I have nothing from my childhood nor any items that might have been 'passed down' from grandparents etc. We don't even have many photos of me & younger sibling as babies/toddlers. I just accept that I can have memories of people and places without the 'things'.

If you really want them, what's stopping you asking for them now? If he won't give them to you now, it's a guarantee you won't ever get them. Personally I wouldn't ask as it's one more thing for him to use to hold power over you.

Kevinthebird007 · 29/11/2022 19:17

One final query, if I cut contact and then he does eventually pass on, would I still then be obliged to do his funeral etc? What happens if nobody does that?

OP posts:
Hoppinggreen · 29/11/2022 19:31

You aren’t obliged to do anything

InternetRandom · 29/11/2022 19:40

Kevinthebird007 · 29/11/2022 19:17

One final query, if I cut contact and then he does eventually pass on, would I still then be obliged to do his funeral etc? What happens if nobody does that?

You can decline to get involved and the local council will provide a basic funeral. You could also opt for the 'direct cremation' route where the body just goes for cremation without a service. It's cheaper and avoids the emotional stress. But you don't have to do even that.

Kevinthebird007 · 30/11/2022 07:41

Thank you for all the msgs and advice. For years I thought I was just being intolerant but I now see I have been manipulated.

OP posts:
HesterAndPearlInBrightSunshine · 30/11/2022 08:06

It's awful for you as he's your dad and you still see his charming side but... you need to get really angry. You will be one day but he might be gone by the time you are ready to confront him. It would be better if you could get to that point whilst he's alive.
In the cold light of day, as a complete stranger, I see this guy as a cold-hearted narcissicist who systematically puts his immediate pleasure first and thinks nothing of wrecking his family again and again. As a mother it makes me sick.

BMW6 · 30/11/2022 08:31

I'm so sorry OP but you must protect yourself and your children from your father.

He is a pathological liar and proven thief. He will steal from your children if he can. He has left a trail of destruction in his life - how do you think the many, many people he stole from have coped with their losses? He doesn't give a damn for other people's feelings INCLUDING YOURS AND YOUR CHILDRENS.

Perhaps he is a psychopath and can't help it - but knowing that doesn't help protect you and your children from his actions.

He certainly sounds like it - the charm, affability fun, all textbook psychopathy. If he was a serial killer rather than a conman and thief would you stay in contact?

Disabrie22 · 01/12/2022 07:13

Updated here - your dad is a sociopath and a narcissist. He will never change - you don’t need to feel guilt about cutting him off as he will ruin your life. And he’s been so appalling he does not deserve a relationship with you!!
please rid yourself of him.

RedHelenB · 01/12/2022 07:22

Unwound invite him if it will make your Christmas better. If not, I wouldn't. You're not obligated to after what he's put you through imo.

TheaBrandt · 01/12/2022 07:42

If there’s no will and the estate is beneath £270 k it’s legally all his as the spouse.

TheaBrandt · 01/12/2022 07:44

If estate above that children get half of the sum above that and spouse the other half. Spouse gets personal chattels.

Disabrie22 · 01/12/2022 09:01

And get a lawyer

Hoppinggreen · 01/12/2022 09:26

Why would she need a lawyer?
For her MH she needs to accept that there is no money, getting a lawyer (for what?) will just prolong things.
Best thing for her is to move on and forget this man exists

FeelthingsRbetterNow4574 · 01/12/2022 09:48

Did your DM leave a will ?

Kevinthebird007 · 01/12/2022 10:32

@FeelthingsRbetterNow4574 so I thought they both had wills; they told me they did. It turns out they were just DIY wills which hadn't been filed so not worth the paper they were written on. So having downloaded her probate, she died intestate with an estate valued at £53k, net value £56k.

It's all a bit involved but my brother died 3 years ago and she inherited his wealth, including house etc which they then sold. There were two pensions if his which my mum inherited but never cashed in and a set of shares in America worth £66k. Neither of the pensions nor the shares have been accounted for in her estate and I can't understand why. My dad told me that the pensions were in the process of being drawn down. I spoke to his solicitor a few weeks back who told me that my dad had not given him legal instructions to do anything, had not provided the necessary paperwork to do anything and it was questionable whether those pensions would be liquidated as they don't pass down the line ad infinitum automatically - it would be for those pension providers to decide. The shares in America require a transfer certificate for the IRS in order to liquidate those funds. My dad hasn't obtained this and thinks that by calling and emailing begging them they will change their mind. He has apparently had one off wire transfers from them without the certificate but none of this has come to me.

My dad told me that mum's estate was worth 600k... how can her probate have not included those two pensions and the shares?

OP posts:
Kevinthebird007 · 01/12/2022 10:33

Sorry net value 46k

OP posts:
anon2022anon · 01/12/2022 10:46

Can you download your brother's will? But to be honest it sounds like a fantasy situation they've all invented or commited fraud to achieve.

I'm sorry, this sounds so hard, but you need to really distance him from your life. Those accidental messages that you're getting? In 5-10 years your kids will have phones, and they will get them too. Along with the messages asking for money/ time/ help. He's made it clear he has no boundaries- a naked pic of your 77 year old dad! And it's your job now to stop the cycle.

If you feel like you want to see him, put some distance in there. Meet him for lunch once a month. Don't message, do a duty 10 minute phone call.

And I'm really sorry about your mum, but she was also complicit with him. Our job as parents is to protect our children, not let people hurt them, let them down, steal from them. And she's done it too, taking you to the bank with him. I would look at counselling to try and get your head around it all.

Kevinthebird007 · 01/12/2022 11:03

@anon2022anon I've just downloaded my brothers - his estate was £278k (£204k net). Seems he also died intestate. He was as straight as a die, prudent with money and never went off the straight and narrow. Essentially my parents always struggled with money and my brothers death left my mum with a lot of money she would have otherwise not had. I know a payment was made to my brothers dad (not my dad) by my mum and she gave me £10k and my other brother £10k. I invested mine for my children and any future house issues we might have with my husband Ms disability.

Christ knows what has happened to the rest. They had a few weekends in London at the ritz when mum was very ill - they invested in physical things like ingots etc. Christ I'm angry. Really angry. And really really sad.

I was never enough. Never.

OP posts:
PoquitaAmiga · 01/12/2022 13:19

Your dad's issues have nothing to do with you. They are his to fix.

You are enough. You are valued. Your husband and children love you. Don't be so hard on yourself!

Nagado · 01/12/2022 14:12

I was never enough. Never.

Yes, you really were enough. But this isn’t about you; every shit part of this whole scenario is on them. There is literally nothing on earth that you could have said or done that would have changed their behaviour. It’s THEM who weren’t enough for YOU. If you start thinking that you weren’t enough, you’re telling yourself that you’re somehow responsible for their actions, or that things could have been different if only you’d done x, y or z. This is all on them. I promise you, I do understand what it’s like to have a father like this, and it is shit. But for your own sanity, you have to start accepting that these are entirely their issues, not yours.

He might have been a fun grandfather but he isn’t a good grandfather. Good grandfathers wouldn’t steal savings that had been meant for their grandchildren. He was fun because it was easy for him. They had nothing of interest for him to take. If he could steal £6000 from his own daughter, what do you think he’d do to them as soon as they’re old enough to obtain credit?

Personally, I wouldn’t bother trying to push for a diagnosis for your dad. It might make you feel better for five minutes because you’ll be able to attribute his actions to a condition, rather than actively being a wicked person, but it won’t change anything. He’s still lied to you and stolen from you. He’ll still be trying to guilt trip you into paying his rent or commiserating with him about how none of this is his fault because he’s just so sad about your mum (although what was his excuse when your mum was alive?). You can’t fix him and you can’t change him, no matter how much you love him, or help him, or surround him with loving family.

I think your only course of action is to completely cut ties. Don’t pay his rent. Don’t invite him for Christmas. Block this policeman. Accept that he’s stolen from you and he’s spent it on male escorts. Instruct a solicitor if you want to, but I think you’d spend more money on legal fees than you’d ever see.

And if you can afford it, have some counselling. I cut ties as a teenager, which I think was easier than doing it as an adult. You need support from someone who doesn’t have any skin in the game.

Stomacharmeleon · 01/12/2022 14:43

My father is just the same. We haven't been i contact for years because
He stole my chequebook after volunteering to babysit. The only reason I knew was that round amounts kept coming out of my account eg fifty pounds exactly. So I asked the bank to send copies and it was him.
He framed me for stealing a large sum of money from my brother. We were teenagers. He told my brother he had seen the cctv footage from the bank and it would destroy our family. Only it was him....
I paid for us all to go on Holiday and I was going onto another event. He stole all my money from my bedside table then tried to blame my ten year old.
He has betrayed me so many times. Pathetically I tried to reach out to him just as covid happened as I heard he was ill.... he replied with a vile message running me down thinking he was messaging another one of my siblings
Won't make that mistake again. They don't change.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page