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Anonymous
Anonymous asked in Family & RelationshipsFamily · 1 decade ago

Can your marriage work when your husband wants nothing to do with your parents?

Long story short is my parents struggle financially so much so that it has become a burden to their children but in some ways you feel obliged to help, not just because they are your parents they provided me with everything I could have wanted in life, love, care, education and the list goes on. Not sure how any child can sit by and watch their parents struggle especially when they are getting old and not much yonger! The do mean alot to me. This is the main problem when we first moved to the UK my family took out a loan £5500 to help me when I first got to the UK and to settle some of their debt, however they needed a surety for the loan. My boyfriend at the time (now husband) stood as surety as he had inheritance money that was in a fixed deposit. He was under the impression it was for 2 years but in fact was for 5 years. When I arrived in the UK, I only used £2000 of the loan to get on my feet, unfortuantely had not repaid my parents as we kept on putting it on hold and they had told me to hang on to it for the time being. So now 4.5 years has passed and the money in the fixed deposit (inheritance money) is needed by my husbands family so we checked up on the loan with my parents to see how much is left if anything we could square it off with what I owe them. In the end the loan has turned out to be more than the intial loan due to Finance charges of £3400 added to the intital £5500, plus my parents had stopped paying the loan in Nov07 due to not being able to afford it which means the balance on the loan now is £9832 after interest and late payment charges...Trouble is they never told us so we could maintain it. This means that the inheritance money will not be released until the loan is settled. Its been an absolute nightmare and in the end I have had to pay out of my savings £5000 (intitally saving for our house) to clear a part of the loan but still need to obtain a further loan on my side to pay the balance. Now here I am stuck in the middle of a huge family dispute, where my parents are telling me they were embrassed that they could not afford the loan and did not want to ask us, thought there situation would improve and they would be able to clear the loan, however my partner seems to think this is just an easy answer and feels used and abused. I can understand both sides, I can understand my partners frustration and annoyance with everything, he has told me that my family is scum and wants nothing further to do with them as they had no concern on the money that was in the fixed deposit, it would have only taken a phone call to resolve from our side. I can partially understand but in the end this will only hurt me and not my parents nor him as I will be the one torn inbetween. This is just all so hard and just not sure what do. I know that my husband is right but they are my parents, you dont turn your back on the people that raised you for most of your life. Will it work with me always being the go between, not being able to have family BBQ's or when we have children for them all to be together, the thought alone kills me, any advice appreciated....

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  • 1 decade ago
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    I understand your husband's initial anger, however, all you and he can do is resolve it now. Talk to the bank about the loan, and the situation. Find out if there is some way to reduce the amount of interest. Then have a long talk with your husband and explain how you feel about the family issue. It would be unreasonable for him not to attend functions as a family, even if he does not have the same respect for your parents. Everyone makes mistakes. Your love for your parents should be based on the fact that they were there for you when you needed it. They tried their best to help you. It was actually up to you to take care of this loan in the first place. You should have insisted that it be repaid on time, so in reality your husband's anger should be with you, not your parents. Tell him that, rather than to allow him to hold a grudge against them. Good Luck with resolving this problem. I hope it all works out for the best.

  • 1 decade ago

    Your husband should not have disrespected your parents by calling them 'scum'.

    If he really wants to make your relationship work, I'm sure he'll understand if you explain to him the reason behind your parent's decisions. Maybe a confrontation will help, although if he has a quick temper it may not be the best idea.

    That way, you can come to an agreement.

    Good luck.

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