If you found out that your spouse did something ridiculously kind for your ex, then got stuck on the hook for coming up with their rent money, what would you do?
This 40-year-old man met his 31-year-old wife five years ago, and they got married after a year of dating. Two years ago, he gained full custody of his son, whom he had with his 45-year-old ex.
After his son came to live with him, he quit paying child support to his ex, as he was no longer required to do that. Also, his ex stopped being involved in his son’s life as soon as she was no longer caring for him.
“My ex has other kids. Some months back, I got a call from my ex. She was having issues getting approval to move into a new apartment due to her credit,” he explained.
“She made more than 3x the rent, but they would not rent to her due to her credit. She sent me a document outlining that her poor credit was the reason she was not approved for an apartment.”
“I refused. She called some more times, but told her I would not do it. After a while, she stopped calling about it. Well, unbeknownst to me, one of the times she called, she spoke to my wife.”
His wife felt so bad for his ex that she actually offered to co-sign the two-bedroom apartment for her, and his ex took her up on her insanely generous offer. The rent costs $1,800 a month.
Then, three months ago, his ex lost her job. She is locked into that two-year lease on her apartment, and his ex’s landlord is still insisting that she pay the rent, job or not.
Well, his ex has not been paying the landlord, so the landlord contacted his wife and threatened to take legal action to get his money from his ex and/or his wife.
“That is when I learned about my wife co-signing. There is no way for me to cover the rent without dipping into critical savings (retirement, kids’ funds, rainy day funds, etc.),” he continued.
“My wife would need to empty her savings to cover. She is asking me to help. I refuse. We are at an impasse.”
For more context, they do not live in a community property state, and he’s not responsible for paying his wife’s debts where he lives.
He just doesn’t see why he should sacrifice the financial security of his family to help make sure his ex and her kids are not homeless.
He’s left wondering what to do.
I think he should call a lawyer for his wife or get his wife to call one so they can understand their options. I do fear that his wife is going to be responsible for the rent for what’s left on that two-year lease, in addition to the back rent.
It was really foolish of his wife to tie herself financially to his ex like that, and I don’t understand why she would do something like that.
What advice do you have for him?
You can read the original post below.
Sign up for Chip Chick’s newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
By Bre Avery Zacharski
Hi, I'm Bre, Chip Chick's CEO! I have a degree in Textile/Surface Design from The Fashion Institute of Technology, and... More about Bre Avery Zacharski
