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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

Need help, almost homeless, cant stay abroad, want to move back to UK

20 replies

smiley37 · 29/07/2018 13:40

Hello all, I'm writing today as I need your help to decide which town I can move to in an emergency during the next two weeks as I plan to leave my rageful husband whom refuses to seek mental health care/support counsellors have suggested and our GP also strongly advised. We live in Germany and I my husband is from the town we are in and I am from England and been living in West Germany for almost 3 years with my child and husband. Problem is he has become gradually more and more rageful and has not accepted he has been violent also. I had forgiven him as he promised to get professional support and therapy or assessment from psychiatric therapists/doctors of neurology as it has become a regular occurrunce that he became rageful and then forgot about what he said or did. I love him dearly but the times he was calm and wonderful and gentle and kind have become almost zero. He went to a lawyer this year behind my back without any discussion and sent me a letter saying he wanted a seperation as I was the problem and he wanted a divorce after a year. He told me he was going to see the doctor about his regular prescription and he asked me what I would like to do for Valentines day the day before he left and didnt come back. We had an argument the week before that where he came home already flustered and angry and told me he wanted a coffee and he was going out again imeadiately after. I made the coffee and asked if he could do me a favor whilst out as our child was ill and had been off school and I had not made it to the bank and could he pick up some cash for me as I didnt use the bank card as I had no idea if he had deposited the grocery money that week yet as I had no password access to the online banking. He started shouting out just use the card and saying I always told him things to do after work and he had only just arrived. I apologised and explained why I was asking as the password had not worked and I did not want to go buy grocery the next day and find I could not pay for it. He stormed off and didnt drink the coffee and came back an hour later and was still angry. He starting accusing me of having an affair and all sorts of things similar like being with my ex I have not seen or heard from in many years and alot of nonesense and then he picked up our wedding photographs/frames and smashed them together over the dining table whilst I was sat trying to keep myself calm as he was making me very anxious and afraid as he was shouting at the top of his voice. He kept telling me over and over what he thought my feelings were and what I was going to do but did not want to ask me or hear what I said at all. I told him to stop being ridiculous and sit down and then I talk to him. He didnt but calmed down by going for a walk. He later came back ate dinner and then started again to accuse me of not loving him and doing everything wrong to him. I have only ever been a loving supportive and caring devoted wife to him and I had felt increasingly ignored and left in the dark about his activities and thoughts as he would not open up and talk but only rage. I explained this and when he became rude and threw around a coffee cup thinking apparently I was ging to hit him he said I told him to leave or calm down and he ended up going to his mothers home. He came back after two days and was sorry it got out of hand but did not address the problem with the raging and negative thoughts was very out of control. He agreed he needed help and he said I needed help but I feel I did only to talk about what he was doing and how to cope with it as our child was being affected by his aggression too when he was shouting at me and raised his voice during time he helped out with homework. I tried to talk with him so often and his family to get him to go to therapie but it had not worked as he had not found a suitable therapist to help and also told me the only one he had seen on and off was saying he was not open enough to help him as he only would talk about me but not himself.

This went on until this year and we seperated in February but later he said he wanted to make things good again and could the court lift the no contact order in place due to his abusive behavior he said he was sorry for in court. I let him back into my life with the promise he had made to seek help or there was not a way forward.
I have been enjoying times seeing him twice to three times a week outside our home he had been forbidden to enter without my permission by court order and he had expressed absolute desire to make things work. He would go out for walks, for a coffee at our favourite cafe and watch films together we both liked and he planned a trip to another city close by for a treat for our birthdays this month as it was my 40th Birthday. It was lovely a great plan to we all looked forward to as a family but then he became rageful the night before even though he knew I was still anxious that the medication he had started to take for depression about 6 weeks before had little efect on the aggitated and angry shouting fits that appeared from nowhere incluing negative comments towards himself accusing myself and our child of saying them when we had not said anything of the sort. It felt like he was in this negative world and could no longer get out. I missed my husband dearly but he could be right next to me and push me away by the comments and his stand offish approach that I could not be intimate or feel happy to be around him as he had shouted at me constantly for anything I had offered help with or asked if he wanted to join in with. He ran out on us without saying where he was going or for how long whilst on holiday on our last day and I had to make my own way after he didnt return. I went to my parents as planned after the short break and he was just rude via sms saying it was all my fault and I was shouting and refused to believe he had left shouting at me. I had tried to meet with him for hours before I went to the airport but ended up in tears on leaving as he never came back to meet me and our child the whole day. I spoke with him on the phone to try get him to see it was not a good ending on the trip and try meet back up with him on my way back to Germany and we could try make up for the time lost and also get the support from therapy on off whilst we both had holidays from our jobs for two more weeks whilst leaving our child with her grandparents to give us some time alone. We returned to Germany with a rocky trip back filled with his agitated and strange behavior of negative ideas every time I spoke it was like he heard the total opposite and he walked away several times and met back up with me. We came home and we agreed to enjoy a nice evening and open presents for him for his bithday but he put them aside and wanted to focus on something else to do with our child on our trip previous to me being away even though we had resolved that and agreed to not speak of it until therapy as I felt he may not be able to deal with it. It was a mistake to say this to him as he became unhappy and said I was going to hit him and call the police and thats why he was leaving. He told me to leave my own home first then he realised I was not leaving and he had to go back to his mother home where he had been living since February. He seemed to be fixated with me being his enemy and went in and out of this strange behavior too often and it is very disturbing. I decided it must be as he is afraid of going to see the neurologist/therapist clinic the next morning so he had made the argument to leave. He has since been sending me SMS i was not able to block on my phone and would not answer his phone and constantly blaming me for his own behavior and just asking me to come back to help but then dumping me again. I told him yesterday I had no way to communicate with him in any resonable manner without an open civil dialogue that he did not shout over me and the accusations to the police via his fantasy ideas had been too much for me. I would be leaving. He has said he will be going to the clinic tomorrow but Im very afraid he wont go but rather is just playing me about to stall my return to the UK. I would like to go back to set up home as im so out of control of my life here due to language etc issues with not finding work having no connection to support my daughters schooling even though she is now fluent in German. But if he wants to get well he will join me as he had expressed a wish to move to the UK twice before so if he really didnt want a divorce instead of address his health he would sort himself out and join his family. I need your help now to decide which town in England to move to that would give my child the best possible future at school and any job I can get to find a place to live as I think I will be emergency shelter first as I cannot go home to my parents as the community has made it difficult for my family since I married outside of my culture and religion so im not well liked. I also dont want to be there as my ex husband lives in the same town and I would not feel safe as he used to stalk me and was very controlling. I just want to find a town I can run to and get help to find somewhere to live without all this stress and feel safe. Can anyone suggest where has some community support for a mum and child and jobs and good secondary schools I might get an emergency place at for my child whom ahs been through so much.

Im sorry it was so long to explain and in one lump but im packing to leave and im really anxious about booking my things to be put in storage so I can just flee as I might end up on the streets if my husband looses his job and his friends have threatened me due to the stories he as told then about me having imaginary affairs. He keeps telling me he has no other woman in his life but I say let me go if you dont want to live with me and make things work. I'm really afraid of how things will be homeless back in the UK.

Can anyone tell me about their town? please im not sure where to go.

OP posts:
funnylittlefloozie · 29/07/2018 13:52

I understand that your family may be sufficiently ignorant and bigoted to refuse to accept you back (sadly it happens) but do you have no friends at all back in the UK? Do you have any money of your own? How will you afford the tickets back to the UK? Can you book a hotel for a few nights?

user1498854363 · 29/07/2018 13:59

Op, I can only suggest you go somewhere u know/ feel comfortable/ have some friends.

Any medium/large city has lots available.

What area would u want?

He sounds like a nightmare, even unwell doesn’t make it ok to behave so violently and agressive. Get away from him and be safe

FishingIsNotASport · 29/07/2018 14:06

I can't offer much advice I'm afraid, but just wanted to say how sorry I am for your situation with your husband and your family Flowers. You could contact Women's Aid either in the UK or the German equivalent if there is one? They may be able to organise a place in a refuge for you and your child. At the very least they will give you some good advice about your options. Good luck.

funnylittlefloozie · 29/07/2018 14:07

I would head north because it is cheaper than the south.

smiley37 · 29/07/2018 14:18

Hello thanks for the ideas. I have some money for a flight back and to get all my things out to somewhere to store them then I cant afford rent as no job im worried no one will take me on without income. My freinds offered the sofa bed and some have offered the use of roms to store my things as all my childs and my most presicous things are in our apartment in Germany. I just read about going into a refuge centre but I'm not sure its classed as abuse or more neglect so I might not qualify for help or not?

OP posts:
AgentJohnson · 29/07/2018 17:03

Do you have permission to take your child out of Germany? If not, your H could tell the Police that you have abducted your child. You can not just up and leave, you need to get legal advice. I had to get sole custody of my daughter to make sure that my violent Ex couldn’t stop me returning to the UK, as he had previously threatened.

SilverHairedCat · 29/07/2018 17:06

Why are you in Germany? Are you a military wife? If so, I may be able to point you towards specific support.

Movablefeast · 29/07/2018 17:13

There will be lots of help available to you in Germany, use that first because if you leave with the children without his permission you could lose them. Do you have any German friends you could confide in who could help you find the local women's aid? There is usually a Catholic Community advice bureau in every town who can tell you where to find help (their advice is general it is not allowed to be biased). I find German social services to be more generous than the UK so I would try and get the help you need over there first. Can you file a police report over his threatening behavior?

smiley37 · 29/07/2018 18:18

He is the stepfather of my child so I dont need his permission because he didnt adopt her. I am not a military wife but thank you for the help you offered. I have been through all with helpful social services at a point where my husband had said he didnt want to continue the relationship due to his idea that I had an affair and I didnt but I could not find anywhere to live that was within the limit of rental cost the social service would support me to pay with and then the prospects of staying in an iscolating place with no job prospects at all due to language barriers and no childcare facility to allow for me to study further to support long term work just made it impossible with the 7-45am -1pm school day here. I have ended up after all my experience and qualifications gained in England as effectively a cleaner at a local kindergarten and it has made me very unhappy too. In short the plan was not to live as a single mum here but as a couple and start a family as I had only been married 2 years to my current partner before I discovered the issues he has. I do think the addition of finding out that having children was not a possibility for my husband made things very difficult for him but I had always wanted more children and it was not an absolute zero chance of concieving but more the fact the mental health issue had appeared and taken over all. I had problems with him fairly early on and the police were involved and I dropped the charges as he agreed to get help and I didnt want to give up so easily. Just since my first post today he has been in touch and agreed to go to the psychiatric clinic for support tomorrow morning with the agreement to be admitted should the doctor say he needs to stay. I had been lucky to find a good therapist to explain to me the system of support here but it took so long to get help and it was even more difficult as I was doing the searching without help as my husband was in denial or simply after a days work completely exhausted or he would not want to address the problem. I found myself avoiding the situation also due to fear of arguments.

He has asked me to come along with him for support and then decide what to do after that but im continuing my plan to leave as I feel totally not secure about the whole school situation and my childs happiness overall due to iscolation and no community events or groups for children her age. She doesnt have a social life after school and it made her quite ill with the problems with my husband she considers her father and adores him until recent weeks and is confused now. Lets see what tomorrow brings and I have told him I think its best for me and my child to move away as there isnt much to make us happy here without him in our lives as a continuous, reliable and healthy interaction living at home as a family should be. He seems to be resonable now to talk but I wont know if it lasts so I still want to do whats best for me and my child. Its so difficult as I also feel I'm leaving him when he might need me the most but I certainly cant live like this in a limbo with his daily stresses ups and downs and no future here for me that is stable or in my control im reliant on social services always since the court said he needs to pay maintenance for living costs which he did voluntarily since March but complains alot about money or my husband whom may decide he wants a divorce by February when he can legally divorce me in Germany and that means my daughter will miss a crucial year in school in England and wont find it easy to catch up and I cant afford to put her second over an unsure not able to commit partner. It just feels that way right now.

OP posts:
AnchorDownDeepBreath · 29/07/2018 18:22

If you've lived in Germany for three years, I believe you'll have to take a habitual residency test before you'd get any help with either housing or benefits - and you'd be here at least three months before either of those could begin.

Could you support yourselves for three months; or stay with a friend?

I'm sorry this has happened Flowers

TerfsUp · 29/07/2018 18:24

OP, I am sorry to hear of your situation but your best bet is to stay with the friends who offered you space rather than trying to find a refuge.

Welshcake77 · 29/07/2018 19:13

I’m really sorry you’re in this situation. I also live in Germany and tbh I think you’d hould really consider very carefully whether moving back to the UK now would be in your best interests and your DCs if you are not going to have any support from your family. You won’t be able to claim any benefits until you have been resident for either three or six months and with the state of funding for refugees in the UK I guess it would be pretty hard to get a place.

Welshcake77 · 29/07/2018 19:18

Sorry pressed post by mistake.
Have you been able to find out what you would be entitled to as a single parent in Germany? What is the housing situation like where you live? Where I live children of single parents are entitled to Hort places after school which may allow you to look for a different job.
I understand that you feel like you need to get away from him and the relationship certainly doesn’t sound easy or good for you but just wanted to put my thoughts out there. Good luck whatever you decide to do x

Sevendown · 29/07/2018 19:24

Scotland has more generous homeless provision than England.

It’s also cheaper.

smiley37 · 29/07/2018 20:04

Thank you all for the support its most appreciated.

OP posts:
AgentJohnson · 29/07/2018 20:23

Check your entitlement to benefits but it is probably unlikely you are. Then yes bite the bullet and come back to the UK.

smiley37 · 29/07/2018 20:39

Thank you Welshcake your support is great but I tried to find accomodation that was safe and affordable in the town we live currently where my child goes to school and there was nothing for 6 months I still am on a waiting list and with no luck as we too have many refugees and problems with finding small places to live with the limited 410 Euro including all bills limit of support available. I do not currently have a job it is an unpaid position I am forced to take as the Job.com or jobcentre is making me do this to get benefits as my husband only pays the bills not for food or my child. I know its a real decision I have to make but the overall comparison of having no freinds or family at all in Germany is making my decision easier especially with the schools issue too. But if I get a clear no from my husband towards the ralationship I will move away for my best interests in future. Anything is better than no control at all alone in a foreign place with angry in laws and friends of husband around and friends I had made decieving me because Im vulnerable here. Im really glad i didnt bring my daughter back with me as my friends husband followed me off the train pretending to be all kind then asked for my number and asked me out and wanted my address! I was horrified and felt totally shocked as he had watched my husband talk to me in the train and noticed our relationship had deteriorated so much and knew all details from my friend whom told her husband innocently my situation. I feel I'm living amongst people I know nothing about and cannot communicate with properly and not any support network. I have made friends with other parents but they have busy working lives and families so its not so easy to ask for much support like moving out or somewhere to stor my things so I can go back to my mother whom is supportive but just cant let me stay with her as my brother whom lives with her is not talking with me. I dont want to cause tentions with the family any more.

OP posts:
smiley37 · 29/07/2018 20:43

I have lived away from the UK for 2 years 7 months

OP posts:
smiley37 · 29/07/2018 21:27

Thank you Agent Johnson. I just been on the phone to a friend whom is letting me stay with her until October so I can sort myself by then hopefully with the local council support in England. I used to live in that area so I know it will be better than here thats the main thing and I should not be afraid to go to live close to my hometown. Ive got the confidence to move on now thanks to all support. You been great
hugs x

OP posts:
confusedmomm · 29/07/2018 21:43

By the sound of it you've given him many chances and he's never kept his word re getting help. There's only so much you can take and I believe you're doing the right thing to move back. Until you settle in i'd look at the North. It is way cheaper than the south of England. That's awfully nice of your friend to let you stay over. Wish you all the best x

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