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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

DH won’t leave without starting WW3

35 replies

Curly8 · 02/11/2025 20:00

I am at a complete loss of what to do or where to go from here.

Today I told my vile narcissistic husband that I want to separate, and he has thrown everything at me.

I work 2 evenings a week in a restaurant. Every week without fail he causes issues before I go in to make me late. He quite frequently calls me and texts me ranting and raving about looking after the kids DD1(6)& DD2(18m). He’s also made me leave early on 3 occasions claiming that they’re ‘sick’ when it’s been something he could deal with. I have dinner ready for them, and they go to bed at 7pm. He has to do very little. He bitches and moans constantly that he has to do this ‘for me’.

On Friday just as I was leaving for work he called me a ‘tramp’ in front of my children, because I asked him to pick something up more than once and I was irritated with him. I didn’t call him names, I didn’t shout, I just sounded annoyed and that was enough to warrant name calling.
I was shaking with rage and so upset all through my shift. He did apologise the next day, but told me I was too sensitive.

He took himself for a walk yesterday, but really he went to the pub and told me he’d be home at 5 at the latest. I had dinner ready for him. It was 7.30 before he came home, and was verbally abusive again.
He’s in the pub daily, but doesn’t think it’s a problem. He doesn’t get super drunk, but enough to come home and try to annoy me, or be nasty. He will start insulting me and my family members.

He has a job WFH and walks DD1 to school every morning (5mins), and picks her up sometimes. This is the extent of his parenting. He can’t handle looking after them at all, if I go anywhere alone he starts bombarding me with phone calls to come back as soon as possible. I do absolutely everything for the kids, and everything around the house.

Honestly what I’ve shared is the tip of the iceberg. I know everyone is thinking ‘why did you marry him’. Truthfully because I thought it would be easier than breaking it off with him. I’ve tried a few times and he has threatened to ruin my life, and I believe him.

I’ve had enough though. I feel like I am a single mum already. I know life will be easier in the long run if we separated. I don’t want my kids growing up hearing him speaking to me like shit.

Today I told him to pack his bags. My cousin owns the house we live in, and he said he wants all the rent he’s paid back from her. He said he’ll ‘shop her in’ (under what basis I’ve no idea), he’ll report my dad who’s self employed to HMRC so they’ll
investigate his every move, said he’ll ‘shop my sister and BIL in’ (I really don’t know what they’ve done??). He started casting up every private matter I’ve shared with him as my husband. He said he’ll report me to social services. He even threatened to get my 98 year old grandmother kicked out of her care home.
He told DD1 my parents don’t care about her and that mummy was making him leave. She was crying.

Tomorrow he will have calmed down, and he will try to pretend I’m overreacting and say ‘let’s move on’. I hate him.

What the fuck do I do?! How can I get this horrible man to leave?

OP posts:
Nearly50omg · 02/11/2025 20:06

Contact women’s aid and also the police. Ask them to remove him from your property and tell them he’s abusive and it’s not his property and he doesn’t have permission to be there

MissKitty0 · 02/11/2025 20:09

Wow I can’t believe people this awful exist! I don’t know how you’ve survived someone like this for so long! What a nightmare. I’d start secretly recording him when he makes threats, on your iPhone, gather evidence and then go to the police.

TheBlueHotel · 02/11/2025 20:11

Nearly50omg · 02/11/2025 20:06

Contact women’s aid and also the police. Ask them to remove him from your property and tell them he’s abusive and it’s not his property and he doesn’t have permission to be there

Women's aid yes but police won't remove him from the home unless he's actually violent and as he's married to her he has every right to be there unfortunately.

notatinydancer · 02/11/2025 20:14

Don’t know if this would work legally. Can you get your cousin to terminate the lease and do a new one just for you ?

TheBlueHotel · 02/11/2025 20:16

notatinydancer · 02/11/2025 20:14

Don’t know if this would work legally. Can you get your cousin to terminate the lease and do a new one just for you ?

Technically he could sue her and the cousin if she did that. He sounds like the kind of arsehole who would as well.

Curly8 · 02/11/2025 20:17

notatinydancer · 02/11/2025 20:14

Don’t know if this would work legally. Can you get your cousin to terminate the lease and do a new one just for you ?

I was already living here when we met, and rent has always come from my bank account. He owns his own place, but it’s a one bedroom apartment in the city. Not suitable for a family.

OP posts:
Inamess2022 · 02/11/2025 20:21

Look into dv assist who were so helpful to me dealing with a very similar awful abusive ex: they helped me get a non molestation order but I appreciate it’s more complicated with children involved. Sending many good thoughts your way and hope he will be gone soon.

CoastalCalm · 02/11/2025 20:25

The tenancy being in your name may help with having him removed , you need to do this for your daughter or she will grow to believe this is what she deserves from a supposedly loving partner

TheBlueHotel · 02/11/2025 20:28

CoastalCalm · 02/11/2025 20:25

The tenancy being in your name may help with having him removed , you need to do this for your daughter or she will grow to believe this is what she deserves from a supposedly loving partner

It won't, it's the marital home. He has as much right as she does to live there. If she can persuade him to leave then she can prevent him from coming back but she can't force him to leave without a court order.

Curly8 · 02/11/2025 20:35

Thanks everyone. I’ll call women’s aid tomorrow.

I really don’t want to be the one to leave the house. I believe he would be vindictive, and not pay my cousin and she needs the income. I don’t want to drag her in to my mess.

OP posts:
Curly8 · 02/11/2025 20:37

MissKitty0 · 02/11/2025 20:09

Wow I can’t believe people this awful exist! I don’t know how you’ve survived someone like this for so long! What a nightmare. I’d start secretly recording him when he makes threats, on your iPhone, gather evidence and then go to the police.

I know. He told me that he was a ‘very decent guy’, and that I had abused him in telling him to leave. You couldn’t make it up.

OP posts:
sesquipedalian · 02/11/2025 20:38

“I’ve tried a few times and he has threatened to ruin my life, and I believe him.”

OP, he will try his best, and make your life difficult, but the police and the courts are there for you. I had to get an injunction to keep my ex out the house when I got divorced, and ex made everything as difficult as possible, but you do get through it and you do come out the other side. If your cousin owns your house, you should be able to get him out fairly easily. The very fact that you consider your DH “vile and narcissistic” means that you have already checked out of this relationship - time to make it official and get a divorce, otherwise you’ll be writing the self-same post this time next year.

Endofyear · 02/11/2025 22:23

I'm so sorry OP, it sounds like you're living a nightmare 😔 I hope Women's Aid can point you in the right direction and you can find a way to legally get him out. Get all the support you can from family and friends and I'd also report his threats to you and your family to the police - they might not be able to do anything but it will be on record. I know it all feels insurmountable at the moment but keep your eyes on that light at the end of the tunnel - your life without him, just you and the children, will be so much more peaceful and happy. You deserve that so keep going - this is the hardest bit but there are brighter days ahead 💐

Gasbox · 02/11/2025 22:40

TheBlueHotel · 02/11/2025 20:28

It won't, it's the marital home. He has as much right as she does to live there. If she can persuade him to leave then she can prevent him from coming back but she can't force him to leave without a court order.

I'm not sure this is true if the tenancy is in OP's name only, please check this out with a solicitor OP or try Rights of Women for free advice on where you stand legally. https://www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/

Home - Rights of Women

Rights of Women is a charity that provides free confidential legal advice and information to women on the law in England and Wales with a specific focus on Violence Against Women and Girls. We also campaign for access to justice and safety for all wome...

https://www.rightsofwomen.org.uk

UpDownAllAround1 · 02/11/2025 22:40

You need your cousin on side now

Terrytheweasel · 02/11/2025 22:47

Curly8 · 02/11/2025 20:17

I was already living here when we met, and rent has always come from my bank account. He owns his own place, but it’s a one bedroom apartment in the city. Not suitable for a family.

Ok good he can move back there.
You need him out. It’s all empty threats. He’ll threaten to take the children and will say he will try for full custody but he’ll do fuck all about it, trust me.
They’re all the same. The threats are to stop you leaving him but he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. You’re in a good position - you just need him removed from the home.

fckedupsituation · 02/11/2025 22:58

Wow this is identical to what I went through with my stbexh. I had to leave but done it sneakily. Stopped talking about separating and just acted normal like I’d let it go, told him I was taking the kids to the park but went to my mums and never went back. He did call the police and social services, they done welfare checks and saw everything was fine then he got told to stop wasting police time. My tenancy was council and I was advised to enter the house when he wasn’t there and call for an emergency lock change. It was terrifying but I did it. Had the call the police to have him removed from the garden that night. I got a lawyer straight away and as he was abusive and not on the tenancy, the whole matrimonial home thing didn’t stand. I’m two years on and yes, he is still making my life hell and I currently waiting on the first court hearing as he has told his lawyer a whole pack of lies and is trying to get full custody of the kids. But the freedom and peace I have in my home now is priceless. My advice is Womans aid right now and if you can afford counselling, start it right now aswell. I didn’t keep up with Womans aid and couldn’t afford a counsellor and my mental health has went to shit after being with him for 10 years. Two years on and I am only now starting to feel stable.

Inamess2022 · 02/11/2025 23:01

Echoing the messages about the freedom and peace. It’s been three months for me and I’m already feeling back to my old self slowly but surely and I know my son is also feeling the change. Sending many un mumsnet hugs your way.

CarrierbagsAndPJs · 02/11/2025 23:01

Phone the police and tell them about all his threats.

MeTooOverHere · 03/11/2025 08:09

fckedupsituation · 02/11/2025 22:58

Wow this is identical to what I went through with my stbexh. I had to leave but done it sneakily. Stopped talking about separating and just acted normal like I’d let it go, told him I was taking the kids to the park but went to my mums and never went back. He did call the police and social services, they done welfare checks and saw everything was fine then he got told to stop wasting police time. My tenancy was council and I was advised to enter the house when he wasn’t there and call for an emergency lock change. It was terrifying but I did it. Had the call the police to have him removed from the garden that night. I got a lawyer straight away and as he was abusive and not on the tenancy, the whole matrimonial home thing didn’t stand. I’m two years on and yes, he is still making my life hell and I currently waiting on the first court hearing as he has told his lawyer a whole pack of lies and is trying to get full custody of the kids. But the freedom and peace I have in my home now is priceless. My advice is Womans aid right now and if you can afford counselling, start it right now aswell. I didn’t keep up with Womans aid and couldn’t afford a counsellor and my mental health has went to shit after being with him for 10 years. Two years on and I am only now starting to feel stable.

as he was abusive and not on the tenancy, the whole matrimonial home thing didn’t stand.

Myfridgeiscool · 03/11/2025 08:18

His threats are coercive control OP. You can report this to the Police.
He’s trying his best to stop you ending the relationship.
Give women’s aid a call, they have heard this before, know exactly what to do, you can get all the advice you need to deal with it all.
Go for it. You won’t regret taking the first step; life is so much better when you’re free.

Dery · 03/11/2025 08:23

You’ve had lots of good advice above. For now, act normal. Don’t talk about separation. You need to plan. Let him think things have gone back to normal for now. That should reduce the heat on you while you get further information and advice and start organising things for separation. Without telling him.

Curly8 · 03/11/2025 08:59

Thank you everyone for your kind replies, advice, and understanding.
I’m sorry to hear that so many others have experienced this, but glad that there is light on the other side.
I know life will be so much better. I feel like I’ve muted myself to appease him for so long, and I have little to no enjoyment in daily life walking on eggshells.

Of course he is acting nice this morning, doesn’t seem to remember any of the venomous threats. He sorry, but I was playing ‘puppet master’ kicking him out.

I will call women’s this morning, speak with my cousin, and get my ‘ducks in a row’ as they say.

Thanks again for the support. I feel so much better and stronger for it.

OP posts:
TheBlueHotel · 03/11/2025 09:15

Gasbox · 02/11/2025 22:40

I'm not sure this is true if the tenancy is in OP's name only, please check this out with a solicitor OP or try Rights of Women for free advice on where you stand legally. https://www.rightsofwomen.org.uk/

Yes it is true. If a couple are married and live in a property together it's the marital home regardless of whose name the tenancy or mortgage is in.

TheBlueHotel · 03/11/2025 09:18

MeTooOverHere · 03/11/2025 08:09

as he was abusive and not on the tenancy, the whole matrimonial home thing didn’t stand.

I'm sorry but this isn't how the law works. An abusive partner can be removed from their home via police and bail conditions or via an occupation order but they don't forfeit their right to occupy the marital home just by being abusive. If your housing officer advised you to do this they overstepped.

ETA that poster said that police removed him. Police won't automatically arrest and remove someone especially when it's coercive control rather than physical abuse.

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