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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

I’m worried about DS’s engagement

155 replies

Gillien · 14/10/2025 17:24

I have twin sons who are 28, one of them recently got engaged, which I know sounds wonderful but I have some real reservations.

  1. Financially he and his partner aren’t in equal footing, she’s from a well to do family( owns a city centre property etc. I asked DH if he had any rights in the case they marry and divorce and he said no as the property is held in a trust.
  2. Since they started dating DS has totally given up on his career ambitions. He was doing really well in the private sector until they moved in together, then he moved to an NGO, he claimed morally he didn’t feel at home in the private sector, not anything he would have said before meeting her
  3. His partner clearly has quite a domineering personality, we recently visited their flat which they moved into, together at the same time (admittedly funded by her family) it’s all her taste in decor, pinks, corals, oranges, turquoise. None of this is what my DS would have chosen and even his “contributions” he pointed out are clearly in her style, such as he loves Charles Dickens but the portrait they got of him is very abstract and in her colour scheme. It didn’t feel like visiting my sons home
  4. He spent over £6000 on the engagement ring, when I asked how on earth he afforded it he told me he just saved for it

Im terrified that they will get married, divorce in 10 years and as he has no rights to the property be 38 and have nothing to show for it. His brother who he used to be really close to has also noticed that he has pulled away and said he gets the feeling that his partner doesn’t like our family very much.

AIBU to be worried? Should I say something?

OP posts:
DingDongJingle · 17/10/2025 14:00

CommonAsMucklowe · 17/10/2025 13:57

6k on an engagement ring that she will keep when they divorce. A flat she will keep. Career gone. He really has all his eggs in one basket and not in his favour at all. Let's hope he has some right to a share of the flat/house if the worse happens.

He’s not paying any rent or mortgage though. He’s basically living for free. So he can put that money aside or buy an investment property.

Glittertwins · 17/10/2025 14:02

He can save what he isn’t paying on rent and it sounds like you don’t like her taste in home decor.

BarbarasRhabarberba · 17/10/2025 15:27

CommonAsMucklowe · 17/10/2025 13:57

6k on an engagement ring that she will keep when they divorce. A flat she will keep. Career gone. He really has all his eggs in one basket and not in his favour at all. Let's hope he has some right to a share of the flat/house if the worse happens.

How is his career gone? Do you actually know what an NGO is? The UN and World Economic Forum are NGOs and you’d hardly say people working there having thrown their careers away.

CarpetKnees · 17/10/2025 16:40

CommonAsMucklowe · 17/10/2025 13:57

6k on an engagement ring that she will keep when they divorce. A flat she will keep. Career gone. He really has all his eggs in one basket and not in his favour at all. Let's hope he has some right to a share of the flat/house if the worse happens.

Poor chap has just got engaged, to someone he presumably loves.
What's with the "when they divorce" nonsense? Hmm

Plus, nowhere in this thread is there any indication of his "career {having} gone".

You are just making stuff up to fit your own imagination.

Sunshineandgrapefruit · 17/10/2025 17:07

Only say something if you want to ruin your relationship with them. He is his own man. If you're worried about them divorcing and not having a property in his own name then maybe encourage him to start saving for one. I assume they have lots of disposable income if she has a house bought for her and he has no rent/ mortgage to pay?

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