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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

ExH, his new girlfriend and the family beach house

305 replies

Endoftheroad12345 · 31/10/2024 00:52

ExH and I split in late 2022. I left him
after years of abuse, including physical abuse. Haven’t regretted it for a second. I have a new partner who I am very very happy with, exH has a new girlfriend, I have as little to do with exH as possible. He has our two children every other weekend. He pays bare minimum child support, won’t buy clothes for them to keep at his house, is generally a shit dad and human being. My 9 year old son came home with a bruise on his arm a couple of weeks ago from Dad pinching him. Not the first time my son has been hurt by his father. This has been logged with the police.

I bought exH out of the family home last year. It’s nearly killed me with massive mortgage + peak interest rates, but I am lucky enough to have a great job and have been able to manage. We also co-own a beach house. This is about to be listed for sale - for various logistical reasons it was financially advantageous to delay the sale. (Had we sold a year ago we would have paid circa $150K in extra tax and the market was v v depressed).

When I bought the family home the (substantial) beach house mortgage was paid off from my mortgage to save us from usurious interest rates. Both of us have good jobs - exH earns slightly more than me. He rents a property for about half what I pay in mortgage. ExH is waiting for the beach house to be sold before he buys a house. I gave exH the option of buying me out of my interest in the beach house so he was the sole owner. He refused - he doesn’t want to be “left with it”.

I have never taken my boyfriend to the beach house - in fact have gone to considerable expense booking airbnbs when we have gone away together. My view that when we split was that the beach house was a family home, it was special to our kids and what was once our family and taking new partners there would be disrespectful of that.

Despite this, exH nagged to take his girlfriend there. I said I wasn’t comfortable but I am used to him disregarding my wishes on everything so I said not with the kids there and not sleeping in my bed.

A month later (at Easter) he took the kids away as his sister was visiting from the UK for a family long weekend. Unbeknownst to me (or the kids), the girlfriend was invited. When he was told, my eldest son (9) cried and asked t go home (he told me later). ExH then refused to allow the kids to call me for 48 hours to make sure I didn’t find out.

Since then, exH takes his girlfriend regularly and I can tell they have been sleeping in my bedroom. I have tried to be grey rock about it all tbh as he’s such a lying cunt I can’t be bothered engaging with him.

Over the last month, exH has got very busy preparing the house for sale and announced he was going to plaster and paint the interior walls. This is a man who, in the 21 years we were together, couldn’t paint a doorknob. It transpired that New Gf is quite a dab hand at renovations and plastered and painted 3 bedrooms over the course of a week. For free.

I said to exH that was weird and he could afford to pay someone and I hoped that at least he was paying her… his first reaction was to say “she wants to help!” and the second was to ask me to chip in for half of it. That would be a no.

This weekend just been was a long weekend here and I took the kids to the bach. New Gf has been very busy, reorganising the linen cupboard (I can tell as the towels are folded into thirds, something exH never mastered in 20 years). My wardrobe… with all of my clothes hanging in it … has been tidied up and reorganised.

The house is far from Manderly but at this point the Rebecca vibes are off the chart. My tampons are literally in the bathroom drawer.

My strong suspicion is that exH has told New Gf it’s his house (“I let her have the family home for the kids… I took the beach house in the separation … but I still let her take the kids there on holiday because I’m Such a Great Dad”).

Whether she knows or not, AIBU to find it massively creepy and intrusive and go full Mrs Danvers on both of them?

OP posts:
Foxblue · 31/10/2024 12:03

God, your poor kids - I'm so sorry you're having to share custody with this man.
I might have missed it, but the fact your son cried when he found out the girlfriend was coming to the beach house seems a bit worrying to me? Are you sure she's nice to them?

ketchuptom · 31/10/2024 12:06

TheCultureHusks · 31/10/2024 11:05

they agreed it.

She abided by the agreement.

Fuckface did not

the op has been there with her boyfriend and made no reference to asking the ex for his permission

Mrssmith3 · 31/10/2024 12:09

If it’s causing that much stress I wouldn’t use the house. It’s half his house so you can’t stop him using it or the girlfriend. The biggest issue is the treatment of the kids.

Stormyweatheroutthere · 31/10/2024 12:16

She absolutely needs to know you go there with your new partner.. In fact leave some new items there so she knows full well it's also yours... But I would also be removing anything personal of yours incase he bins the lot.

Attelina · 31/10/2024 12:30

'I’m judging her harder than him at this point 😵‍💫'

Why?

She sounds like a perfectly nice woman.

cheezncrackers · 31/10/2024 12:39

I wouldn't be okay with it - at all. However, as you acknowledge yourself, your nasty ex has almost certainly lied to his new gf about who owns the house. The reorganising of your things is clearly a power play that he knows will upset you. As for what you should do, given the option, I'd always choose to maintain my dignity. You don't have to stoop to his level and personally I'd just get that house on the market asap so you won't have to deal with him and his little games in future. He's an abuser. His new gf will almost certainly become another of his victims, if she isn't already, so I wouldn't waste any energy whatsoever being irritated by her. You don't know what lies he's told her. Save you anger for him.

HazelPlayer · 31/10/2024 12:46

We had a mutual agreement that partners wouldn’t be taken there (initiated by me), and then that they could be, but not while the kids were there (initiated by him). This was almost immediately broken by him.

He's an abuser and shite parent - I'm not blaming you in any way but you should have known he'd not stick to any agreement, even one he suggested.

HazelPlayer · 31/10/2024 12:47

Attelina · 31/10/2024 12:30

'I’m judging her harder than him at this point 😵‍💫'

Why?

She sounds like a perfectly nice woman.

She sounds like a mug - as another poster said - but maybe he's told her that any profit on his side from the sale will go into a property bought by them.

So she wants it sold, and hopes she'll benefit from it.

HazelPlayer · 31/10/2024 12:48

She is rather creepily over stepping, op.

But this is Aibu /MN so of course you're just going to be told you're wrong/odd/unreasonable.

SoporificLettuce · 31/10/2024 12:51

RedHelenB · 31/10/2024 10:54

Not let the children be unsupervised with him. It's obviously not legal for hi. To hurt his dc like this or you wouldn't have gone to the police. I'd use the law to ensure non contact.

@RedHelenB You clearly have no experience (lucky you) of how family court system works.

EvelynBeatrice · 31/10/2024 12:56

To be honest I’d send a m thank you card to her by way of a child thanking her profusely and saying how kind it was of her. If she is well meaning it’s the right thing to do, if she’s not, it will enrage her. 😀

Diaryfear · 31/10/2024 12:59

It sounds like you have your new partner in what was the family home, so what's the difference?

It seems like an unnecessary drama to me.

BobLemon · 31/10/2024 13:01

Just put a lock on your bedroom door FFS

CJsGoldfish · 31/10/2024 13:17

I don't think it's particularly weird 🤷‍♀️

It's a shared house, maybe she wanted to put some of her own clothes in the wardrobe. Maybe she was just having a look around at everything. I'd probably check out the spaces in a house I was staying at. Tidying up the linen cupboard is such a non issue. Probably just making sure it's sale ready because people WILL open it!
I'm sorry if she saw your tampons though. That's truly awful.

Lavenderandbrown · 31/10/2024 13:47

Op I haven’t rtet but yes it’s all ridiculous. You sound strong and you have done all the right things as far as I can tell. He’s shit and will continue to be. You are good to keep your expectations of him very very low. Judging her…..well isn’t that great she can paint and replaster. Sex on tap and DIY. It’s probably the trade off for her “getting” to stay there. He will treat her the same shitty way he treated you. I have seen it again and again and I experienced it personally. MN may beg to differ but I don’t believe it myself. And she’s tidying up…good for her she wants to be a little housekeeper in a house she doesn’t own tidying things not hers. I’m sure he did give her some story. I know the tampons are yours but ironically I call this type of female “tampon leavers”. They have to leave their mark….tampons under the sink like they bloody well live there becuse what’s more domestic than left over tampons…oh wait…perfectly folded towels. They sound like idiots to me. Continue on your trek up the high road while having partner join you at said beach house. And as pp said …document and report any signs of abuse. My sons 13 y.o “stepsister” bit his arm. Full oral impression. Keep close eye on how they do while at dads.

sparkellie · 31/10/2024 13:58

I haven't read all the posts but why are you assuming that she is the one who's reorganised your things? I get that she folded the towels in the linen cupboard, but why does that mean she did your room? Isn't it just as likely that he did that while she was repainting/decorating?

commonsense61 · 31/10/2024 14:01

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 31/10/2024 14:16

Endoftheroad12345 · 31/10/2024 09:32

We don’t share the bedroom. It’s a 4 bedroom house and there is a double bedroom downstairs which should be “his” (and hers I guess) but I can tell from things being moved around that they’ve been staying in my upstairs room 🤢

Did your ex agree to that? It looks more as if he's thinking of it as the master bedroom that he has as much right to use as you do.

VegTrug · 31/10/2024 14:35

Who are Manderly & Rebecca?

So you're not in the UK?

VegTrug · 31/10/2024 14:38

@Endoftheroad12345 I’m taking the kids there for the summer holidays.

But the summer holidays aren't until July next year. Won’t it likely be sold by then?

BruFord · 31/10/2024 14:56

VegTrug · 31/10/2024 14:35

Who are Manderly & Rebecca?

So you're not in the UK?

@VegTrug

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_(novel)

An excellent gothic novel, definitely recommend it. It was made into a famous film starring Laurence Olivier.

Rebecca (novel) - Wikipedia

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_(novel)

ketchuptom · 31/10/2024 15:00

VegTrug · 31/10/2024 14:38

@Endoftheroad12345 I’m taking the kids there for the summer holidays.

But the summer holidays aren't until July next year. Won’t it likely be sold by then?

good point

ketchuptom · 31/10/2024 15:01

Attelina · 31/10/2024 12:30

'I’m judging her harder than him at this point 😵‍💫'

Why?

She sounds like a perfectly nice woman.

and it’s a bit of a contradiction to the OP’s apparent concern re whether her ex will be paying the girl friend for the painting she’s done

Endoftheroad12345 · 31/10/2024 18:05

I have never taken my new partner there, I will do these summer holidays which are imminent because we are in NZ.

I judge the gf because I don’t expect anything from him but I’d expect better from a woman in another woman’s house. But I agree she’s likely been misled. But regardless of what she’s been told, she’s a mug and it’s intrusive. I can’t imagine doing that if the roles were reversed.

I said I hope he had paid her because, like all of you I thought she seemed nice enough, and it pisses me off to think of him putting her to work for free when he could easily afford to pay a tradie. I don’t have anything against her and I’ve always been nice and friendly to her on the rare days occasions we’ve met.

@sparkellie I assumed she did because of the way things had been organised/folded … exH couldn’t fold a towel into thirds to save his save life over 20 years so I put it to ex H and he said yes it was her, she was helping and I was an unreasonable bitch. He also side stepped the question of whether she knew I still owned the property which confirms to me he’s lied to her.

OP posts:
Endoftheroad12345 · 31/10/2024 18:11

Diaryfear · 31/10/2024 12:59

It sounds like you have your new partner in what was the family home, so what's the difference?

It seems like an unnecessary drama to me.

The difference is that it’s MY house, I bought it, I can do what I like with it. And my partner doesn’t live here (although insofar as it relates to it once being my ex’s house he could and I would have no issue with it).

I also didn’t let DP stay here for a long time so the kids could adjust. As previous posters have noted 🕵🏻‍♂️ he lives overseas and visits regularly, and I visit him as my schedule allows (which is not that often but I travel for work which helps). I have a live in nanny who has been with us for 4 years and is more of a co parent to my kids than my exH will ever be.

OP posts: