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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Advice needed - husband has left

45 replies

SuperSaint · 14/11/2010 18:30

Hi all, I'm a regular reader occasional poster.

I found out on Friday that my husband had an 18mth affair. He claims it has ended now because he realised he loved me and wanted to make it work. I am obviously devastated and really don't think I can forgive and forget. He has moved out today.

We have 2 primary school aged children and jointly own our house with a largish mortgage. Currently he pays the mortgage and council tax. I pay other bills, food and childcare. I work part time in a fairly well paid job. But even if I work full time I could not pay all the mortgage and other expenses, especially as childcare would then rise.

I have been on the CSA website and seen that he would have to give me approx £120.00pw maintenance. Can anyone let me know if he would have to continue pay the mortgage as well. I'm so scared that my children will have the disruption of their father leaving but also be forced out of the only home they have known.

OP posts:
Lolass · 14/11/2010 20:58

Well...does he want the kids to know what Daddy did for Mummy to make him go ?
How low of him to use them like that !

phipps · 14/11/2010 20:58

What a git Angry.

AnyFucker · 14/11/2010 21:02

He's already showing his true colours. When he left tonight he started crying and telling the children he did not want to go but mummy wouldn't let him stay I was then in a difficult situation trying to explain why I was making daddy go.

ok, for this behaviour alone, he needs kicking to the kerb

how dare he try and make you the villian of the piece

I hate this bloke, and I have never met him

AnyFucker · 14/11/2010 21:02

financial stuff can be sorted

you compromising your self-respect to stay with this snivelling fucker will ruin the rest of your life

AnyFucker · 14/11/2010 21:04

what is it with self-entitled snivelling fuckers ?

that when they are faced with the natural consequences of their actions then they are sorry

sorry he got caught, more like

I am so angry for you, OP x

thehairybabysmum · 14/11/2010 21:06

Sorry to hear you are in such a shitty situation.

re the mortgage can you lengthen the term to reduce the monthly payment or make it interest only?

spidookly · 14/11/2010 21:07

The fact that he's prepared to emotionally abuse his children in an attempt to get his own way means your children, as well as you, will be better off without him in your home.

What a fucking low life.

SuperSaint · 14/11/2010 21:07

AF - you sound like my sister! I told her on the phone what he'd said and she was about to go and track him down and do some serious damage Grin

I have explained to the DCs that daddy has hurt me and I need him to go and stay somewhere else while I think about things. They seem to understand and both are giving me lots of hugs. Every time they hug me I just think what H is missing out on. I would never do anything that would cause me to have to leave my children.

The more I write about him the more I realise what a shit he has been. It's very therapeutic on MN!

OP posts:
AnyFucker · 14/11/2010 21:12

SS, I applaud your sis

and also what spidookly said

I think what you told your children is absolutely right and you are acting in a much more honourable way than their father

in fact, the childrens father is the term I would be using to describe him from now on

he would be my partner no longer

eandh · 14/11/2010 21:31

Don't forget you can apply for tax credits too..if you work more than 16 hours a week you may qualofy for working and child tax credits and they do not take into account maintenance payments (my h left he pays mortgage in liey of maintenance and I pay bills/food/living expenses from my job and tax credits was V.vsurprised at amount of tax credits to be honest it was much mroe than I expected!)

eandh · 14/11/2010 21:33

excuse my typing as on phone and still can't do touch screen typing hope that made sense (h left back in august briefly returned for 3 days in October then I had him removed from house just to clarify!!)

SleeplessInLondon · 14/11/2010 21:47

Supersaint I'm so sorry, your H sounded awful from your OP, but to say what he did to your DC's puts him in a totally different category.

He sounds incredibly selfish, cruel, unkind, self absorbed, thoughtless, immature, disrespectful and ultimately a pretty poor father due to a) what he has put his family through, b) how he reacted when he was caught and ultimately c) how he cared so little for your DC's feelings (and yours) to try to make his DC's feel worse at this time.

Please, for the sake of yourself & your DC's, do not take him back for financial reasons (easy for someone on the Internet to say I know). I suspect as the weeks go by and you think about what you've been getting from your marriage over the past couple of years, you will realise you deserve more.

This is not about you. He chose to be unfaithful, lie ........ You deserve much much more.

AnyFucker · 14/11/2010 22:09

< applauds SIL >

helicopterview · 14/11/2010 23:15

Hi Supersaint

Really sorry to hear what's happened to you.

When this happened to me my first thoughts were also about financial security, so I can completely understand your starting point. It's right at the top of the list of immediate concerns, isn't it? You've got to know you'll have a roof over your and your dc's heads.

However that takes months to sort out.

In the meantime I hope you are sleeping and eating enough, and in addition to all your family support, I would also recommend some therapy if you can arrange it. You are dealing with an awful lot. It's incredibly stressful, and your dc's need you to keep healthy and strong.

Hugs.

WhenwillIfeelnormal · 14/11/2010 23:26

Supersaint I am assuming therefore that he is saying that he ended the relationship with the OW and then hey presto, a very detailed anonymous letter was sent to you - by her presumably? Angry

Anonymous letters are just the pits. I really feel for you and the horrible shock you must have felt.

It was deeply manipulative of your H to use the children in this way and was the very worst thing he could have done in this situation.

However, I came on here tonight to say that you might never change your mind or waver in your belief that you can't get past this, in which case all well and good and this site will be great to help you in your recovery.

But since I still imagine you are in shock and your righteous anger is galvanising you at the moment, if after a while you go through rather different emotions, then do come back for support. No-one will judge you if you have second-thoughts, or feel the need to process the other emotions that will follow, when the anger has turned to sorrow again.

My advice in these situations is to spend some time thinking about what you really want and not to rush into a decision too quickly. Don't box yourself into a corner - retreat and do some thinking. It's probably entirely right for you that he has left you alone for now, but at some point I think you will need information in order to reconstruct the story of your life for the past 18 months. This will allow you to move on either with, or without him.

Thinking of you.

SuperSaint · 17/11/2010 17:13

WWIFN and others - thanks for the support. I just needed a few days away from the thread to try and sort things out in my head. I was getting so much advice and information from various people in RL and on here and my own thoughts were whizzing about in my head. I could not think straight.

As many of you rightly pointed out the news is still raw and a shock. I have had lots of advice not to make rash decisions but to take my time to think about things.

WWIFN - you are correct. H said he ended the affair a couple of months ago because he realised me and the DCs were what he really wanted. The anon letter was supposedly from a friend of the OW but it was so detailed I do believe it was actually from her.

We were having problems - we both neglected our marriage in the sense that we did not make time for each other as a couple. I had suggested counselling as H has other issues as well I think would benefit from counselling but he said he would not talk to a stranger. Ironically things had got much better in the last couple of months - which ties in with H saying he ended the affair and decided to invest all his efforts in working on our marriage.

Since Sunday H has called me, emailed me and texted me to say he loves me he is sorry and he will do anything. He acknowledges what he said to the DCs was completely out of order. has spoken to them both. He says he will give me as much space as I need and wants to go to Relate together.

I am still confused and in all honesty I don't know if I can ever forgive him and trust him again. However, I feel that I need to speak to him and try and understand what went wrong.

WWIFN - I have read the excellent advice you have given on other threads and looked on Amazon at the books you recommended.

OP posts:
TrappedinSuburbia · 17/11/2010 17:36

Just now, I would ask him to stop calling, emailing and texting for a few weeks to let you have time to think what you want to do.

Then once you've had however long you need and only then, would I go to relate even if to make sure you part on amicable terms for the sake of the children, sometimes there's just too much water under the bridge...and 18 months is a LOT of water!

WhenwillIfeelnormal · 17/11/2010 18:44

Supersaint Thanks for the update. I'm as sure as you, that this horrible letter came from the OW. Your shock must have been immense and I ought to warn you that you will have flashbacks about that letter for some time. It is the most cowardly, awful thing, to send an anonymous letter.

I am not surprised and feel relieved that you are in a more reflective phase at the moment. I would urge you to follow your instincts and do exactly what you need. If that's having space from him atm, fine. If on the other hand, you want answers and dialogue, do talk to him. If you decide on the latter, get help from every source imaginable and carve out some time when you can talk without interruptions.

On a personal note, I am more than happy to help. I apologise in advance if I am slow to reply, as I'm in a busy work phase at the moment, but I'll do my best. Smile

SuperSaint · 19/11/2010 20:56

Okay here's an update.

DH is coming over tomorrow to see the children (he hasn't seen them since Sunday). I'm going out (arranged ages ago so it works out fine). He asked if he could stay over on the sofa, I had already spoken to CAB who told me that I could not stop him coming back if he wants to as it is still his house unless he has been violent. Thankfully he never has been so this does not apply. I feel very strongly that I don't want him staying here so I told him this and he has booked in a hotel for Saturday and Sunday night.

He wants to talk on Saturday evening when the children are in bed and I feel I want to know all the sordid details of the affair to be able to make a decision about the future. Is this strange or will it help me? I also feel I haven't been told everything yet. My instincts tell me there is more that needs to come out but I am not sure what yet.

Until I feel I know everything I don't think I can contemplate moving on. I've actually been okay this week. I've been a bit lonely in the evening but have been busy at work and busy with the DCs so not had a huge amount of time during the day to dwell on things.

WWIFN - I'd love help and advice thank you - you seem so wise Grin I'm happy with slow replies as I can't go on MN at work and am away from the computer much of the time during the day anyway.

OP posts:
WhenwillIfeelnormal · 19/11/2010 23:06

Hello Supersaint. I think talking to him is essential, so I'm glad you've carved out some time. I come at this from the perspective too that if we're faced with any major decision in life, it makes sense to have all the information. So in your shoes, I would want to know everything.

You might not be strong enough just yet to hear all the sexual details, but if you do rebuild, I recommend that you know everything. There are two reasons for this; your imagination will be worse than the reality and secondly, you cannot even start a path to forgiveness until you know everything there is to forgive.

I would set some ground rules for your chat. You will doubtlessly have moments of intense anger and although he needs to know you are righteously angry, it often gets in the way of listening. Anger is fine if it doesn't harm you or others and in this case, it might harm you if you lose out on some information. So if you feel yourself becoming furious, just take a brief adjournment.

Secondly, in the immediate aftermath of a discovery, many lies are told. Some of these will be lies to minimise his culpability, some will be to minimise your hurt and there will also be numerous lies of omission.

It would therefore help if you set a groundrule request that to every question, he affords you the respect of the truth, however painful to you and however damaging to him. He should also show you copies of E mails, texts or any letters that passed between them.

Mixed in with all your conflicting emotions, there will be some loss of safety and a need to reconstruct the story of your life for the past 18 months. It is not unusual at all for people to want to cross-reference phone bills and diaries and reframe the period in time when they were being deceived.

I would be very much in listening mode, without giving any judgements or conclusions. However, what he has never heard yet is the story of the affair from your perspective. Unless he was a complete compartmentaliser, I expect you have seen some changed and worsening behaviour, apart from in recent times after he ended the affair.

Do tell him what life was like for you, living with someone who was harbouring such a secret. This is often something of a shock, because while in the grip of the insanity that is an affair, people lose their ability to see the true impact of their behaviour. As a general rule, there is often far more to forgive than infidelity.

Good luck and I'm glad you're going to get some answers. I can't imagine how you've got through this week, so you are doing incredibly well. Do update when you get the chance.

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