My friend has been divorced for a while now but he still lives with the ex-partner; he has to be extremely careful around her as she can have unexpected behaviour. They have a son together and this is the main reason he doesn't feel he can move out because from previous discussion she has suggested she will take their son away back to their home country and my friend will never see his son again.
She is manipulative, violent, still has to constantly have phone calls with him when he's not at home despite them being divorced and despite there not being any romantic aspect for years and years and years before. It all feels so complicated and I'm finding it very difficult to explain properly.
Her behaviour is just not normal. If someone doesn't agree with something she says, they are the enemy, it's like you have a fly in the room and she will attack it with a tank. She gets angry, borderline violent at small scenarios, let's say someone forgot to leave a light on in the hallway before she came home, and it's like a wild temper (tantrum?)... It appears she needs some help with her mental health I guess but she cannot see it so therefore she doesn't need it.
Where does my friend begin in trying to split assets when she is going to try and take everything? He contributed the most to their assets and he even made a more than reasonable offer that she and the son could still live in that house and she could pay the bills and my friend will help pay toward the mortgage but this is not good enough. It's like she thinks she owns him and to be honest, it's like he's 'letting' her do exactly that. He can't be free because he is always in fear. He managed the file for divorce but now everything seems to be at a standstill and I think the divorce was done like two years ago. It's all riding on the son.
I keep screaming at him to get legal help and he talks about the cost but I really think even a smaller cost for a small bit of advice could open some doors. Is there anything he can do regarding her episodes? Her threats to take the son away?