Woman Files For Emergency Custody After Step-children's Mistreatment of Her Son, Husband Is Furious When He's Handed Divorce Papers, She Refuses to Stay: 'My son is my number one concern'

Author image for Shelly Pearl
Shelly Pearl
Dec 9, 2024 7:00 PM EST

We all have family drama one way or another. No matter who you are or who's in your family, there will always be disagreements and chaos from time to time. But some families take this to a whole new level. That's exactly what happened in this woman's case when she ended up with double the kids she signed up for. To make matters worse, not only did these new 'stepchildren' they dislike her own son, but they also vowed to make her life even more difficult. Talk about a tough situation.

What's a woman to do? It's one thing to take on stepchildren, but it's another to take on your husband's ex-wife's kids, who already hate you, especially when you didn't ask for it and weren't consulted about it. Is divorce the only option? Would you handle it differently? I'm sure we can all agree that safety comes first, but how you get there is up to you. I'm not sure there's a right answer. I guess we have our fight-or-flight instincts for a reason. Is yours working? Hers definitely is. Maybe the real failure is this couple's relationship communication because if it was working this whole mess could have been avoided all while mending this woman's marriage. We can't rewind, but we can read it as it unfolds. 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01
    stepdaughter told me a couple of months ago that her mom had hated me and they (she and her brother) used to love me but their mom knew I was bad and she raised her other kids to hate me.
    via Khairunnisa / Canva Pro
  • 02
    r/AITAH AbjectComfort4893 AITA for leaving my husband and filing for an emergency custody order?
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 03
    My husband and I (both 30s) married 5 years ago. Together we have a 3.5 year old son and he has an 11 year old daughter and a 9 year old son with his
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 04
    ex. Things with the ex were strained. She had three other children with a former partner who are 8, 7 and 6. My husband's ex did a year ago. For us it
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 05
    was sudden but she knew she was sick, she'd told the kids she was sick, and had told my stepkids not to tell us. Her former partner wasn't in the lives of the
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 06
    children they shared and none of her family stepped forward so my husband signed us up to take his ex's three children... without discussing it with me.
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 07
    This was an issue for me. We argued about it and ended up talking about it a lot. I tried to work through it to not cause more upheaval for my stepkids or to pull my son's family apart.
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 08
    But the mother's death changed my stepkids. They were bitter toward me and hateful toward their younger brother and their younger siblings have
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 09
    also been incredibly hateful toward us both and there were dangerous things happening. My husband carried on working and left me to do most of the
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 10
    parenting and he knew that would be the case before this. The case worker we had was helping with resources for therapy and grief support groups but I
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 11
    had to document several incidents where one of the kids tried to harm my son, there were open threats made to harm him also. My husband would help
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 12
    me when he was home but it was mostly still me alone with them. My stepdaughter told me a couple of months ago that her mom had hated
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 13
    me and they (she and her brother) used to love me but their mom knew I was bad and she raised her other kids to hate me. My stepdaughter also said
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 14
    her mom told her that my son was never their brother and they should never consider him equal to her kids. She said this to the case worker too.
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 15
    The bio father of the other kids started paying child support but money isn't what I needed.
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 16
    It reached a point where I could not leave my son out of my sight. My husband wouldn't do more and he argued when I said I was going to
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 17
    express to the case worker that having the other three kids was too much. He told me I'd make things worse if I did that and my stepkids would never forgive me or my son.
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 18
    So I spoke to the case worker, got her report and I left my husband and filed for an emergency custody hearing and
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 19
    with the proof from the case worker I have temporary physical custody. My husband cannot see our son and I am working out the divorce.
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 20
    Of course he's angry and he told me I should have talked to him more first. But our son's safety is my #1 concern while he's worried my stepkids will hate
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 21
    him for separating them from the other three. His parents, who I always got along with, are also angry and they
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 22
    told me it was a sleezy way I handled myself. They said this even though they witnessed the harm my son was at risk of.
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 23
    I hate that it reached this point but I couldn't keep my son in that house anymore. But AITA for my actions?
    via u/AbjectComfort4893
  • 24
    Danube_Kitty NTA. What else has he expected you to do? Wait until your son is hurt at least twice? No. He hasn't discussed taking those kids at all with you but you have tried. Unfortunately it's even worse than expected.
    via u/Danube_Kitty
  • 25
    Worldly-Passion-412 So wait. You ASKED for help... they all said "nah" and now your the bad guy? They can get over it. You're nta. They're just mad they have to step up.
    via u/Worldly-Passion-412

Tags

marriage kids siblings askreddit reddit story relationships divorce reddit thread Reddit children
Scroll Down For The Next Article