This 30-year-old man and his 30-year-old ex split up when their son was just four-weeks-old. Now, their son is 12, and they share custody of him.
His ex got remarried eight years ago, and she went on to have four more kids with her current husband.
Now, he’s been setting aside money for his son, and his ex was never added to the account since she didn’t contribute anything to it.
“One of my ex’s children was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer,” he explained. “Their household has seen a lot of changes, and my son has struggled with those changes.”
“I pick up the difference where I can. So my son still goes to his activities (paid for by me), I put extra in his lunch account at school so he can always get a school lunch (his preference over a packed lunch from home), and I went a little bigger for Christmas, which I always start buying early.”
“My son always knew I saved for his future. He mentioned it to his mom after his mom said they were pulling all finances on their end, including anything put aside for the futures of him and his half-siblings.”
His ex then came to him, demanding to know how much money he’s saved up for their son, and he declined to give her the number.
She then expected him to give her access to the account, but he didn’t. His ex insisted that she should be able to have the money to help pay for her sick child.
His ex then attempted to get their son to weigh in, but their son said he’s tired of having to give things up and didn’t want to share that money with anyone else. He made a promise to his son that he would not allow his ex to touch his money.
ajr_images – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual person
“My ex ended up sending me a breakdown of what they want the money for. I did look over it, but only after I told her I would not take our son’s money and give it to her for her other child,” he said.
“I told her I had a duty to my son and not her other children. [My] ex started calling me names, so I ended the call. She then sent me a text asking me how I could say no to helping a child who’s sick.”
“I told her that their sick child was not my responsibility and my responsibility is to ensure our son has a good life, the child I made with her, not the children she made with her husband. My son has not had to deal with any of the fallout (so far/hopefully never). But [my] ex has sent several texts since, and her husband sent a few of his own.”
He’s left wondering if it’s wrong of him to refuse to give the money he saved for his son to his ex to use for a child who’s not his.
What do you think?
You can read the original post on Reddit here.
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