Husband and wife ask husband's parents to invest in their business, parents only agree to give the money to their son, wife cuts contact: ‘We had no idea what we were walking into’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Oct 3, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

Even if you have a great relationship with your in-laws, you should never willingly agree to a situation in which you owe them something. 

Owing anyone anything is a terrible situation to be in, so doing it with a family member historically known for making your life difficult is a foolish decision, and the story below is the perfect example of that.

The wife in the story below knew her relationship with her in-laws was not great. From day one, they hated her, and in return, she kept her distance. At least until the business her husband and she started began failing, and they needed an investment ASAP. This led the couple to turn to none other than the hateful in-laws and ask for a large sum of money.

Since the in-laws hate the wife, they agreed to only do business with their son, which led to quite a dispute. At the end of it, the couple still decided to take the money, but the wife cut contact with her in-laws to avoid talking to them again.

Was it really the sensible decision to make? We're not sure…

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  • 01
    ЛИСА О 20 20 WL 62 LIF OF AMERIC THE UNITED STATES
    via Kaboompics.com

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    AITA for going no contact with my FIL after he and my MIL just invested $100k in mine and my husband's business?

    I will preface with this. My FIL and MIL have hated me from the get go for whatever weird reason.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 03
    They seem to hate all outsiders coming into the family. There are 5 kids between the 2 (mixed family), and basically every spouse besides the FILs side is treated like s' m.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 04
    Even the children. Very toxic family, (there is SO MUCH to unpack here). I called them out on their bulls and told them how they ruined our wedding and have caused a lot of psychological stress to my husband, and the FIL has hated me with the fire of a thousand suns ever since and just faked being "nice".
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 05
    I have tried to just be nice and respectful since then to keep the peace. Many slights have happened since then.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 06
    Fast forward almost 15 YEARS. My husband and I own our own business. We grew really quickly over the last 2 years and ended up taking out a few high interest loans that have been killing our revenue.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 07
    As a last resort, we went to them since they are also business owners and have other investments.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 08
    They laid out a reasonable agreement to help us, which we were very greatful and appreciative of.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 09
    They asked us to reach out to a lawyer friend of theirs to look over the high interest loan contracts to make sure everything was good.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 10
    My husband told me to call him, so I did. The lawyer basically refused to talk to me and requested to only talk with my husband.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 11
    My FIL called shortly after. I heard the initial conversation before I walked away. He said "We are loaning this money to YOU.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 12
    This money is only for YOU." I just brushed it off. My husband then scheduled a call with their friend lawyer.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 13
    This lawyer (who has never even met us) proceeded to tell my husband about his personal divorces, his wives that had spending problems, and dragged him through years long divorces.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 14
    Like explaining to my husband that he needs to figure out our marriage out. This man is in his 60s btw and now married to a woman in her 20s!.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 15
    He also proceeded to say that the FIL said he doesn't like that we've been living on one income (btw I've been working for the last 7 years, even created our business and currently working with my husband on our pretty successful business while also homeschooling our kids) so I have no idea what he's even talking about.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 16
    Where I am getting with this is my husband believes his step father told this lawyer friend to have this conversation with him in order to convince him to divorce me, and I do too since this man has, again, literally never met us and parroting my FILS E S.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 17
    So am I the a hole for wanting to distance myself and protect our kids from this level of crazy???
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 18
    THE LAW
    via Mikhail Nilov

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 19
    Expensive Salad2800 Why would you not get your own independent lawyer, and instead go with a lawyer who is friends with the couple that hate you?
    via Expensive_Salad2800
  • 20
    OP Human_Type_9958 We had no idea what we were really walking into. They can act really nice and then turn on you in a second.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 21
    Etiacruelworld You do realize that's an impossibility right. If they've invested money in your company as a loan and you owe them that money, then there is no cutting contact until you've paid it back because if I loaned some people money for a business that was going out of business then I'd want to know what was going on and make sure I was gonna get a return on that money. I'm with everyone else if they were so toxic, you should never have accepted their money.
    via Etiacruelworld
  • 22
    OP Human_Type_9958 We will be paying them back as the terms are very reasonable. My husband will just be doing all the contacting for the near future.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 23
    IrrelevantManatee ESH. Seems pretty counter- intuitive to get strong financial ties with someone that is toxic, then complain about this toxicity and cut contact. They are your investor you will have them in your lives, whether you want it or not. If you truly wanted to protect your kids, you would never have accepted money from them. Now you are stuck with them.
    via IrrelevantManatee
  • 24
    OP Human_Type_9958 It was kind of a desperate situation. Otherwise we would never go there.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 25
    coygobbler If he is so awful why accept his money? You go on and on about how they're so terrible yet you'll still gladly take their investment.
    via coygobbler
  • 26
    OP Human_Type_9958 We were about to lose our business because of these high interest loans.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 27
    IrrelevantManatee Desperate enough to expose your children to a toxic situation? Yeah... my point exactly. I get that you were desperate. Still made an a h le move by accepting their money.
    via IrrelevantManatee
  • 28
    OP Human_Type_9958 Nah my children won't be around him again anytime soon.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 29
    Shane RealtorandGramp Something doesn't seem to be adding up and I sense we are not getting the full picture. I bet OP has been reckless as sh with their finances.
    via ShaneRealtorandGramp
  • 30
    OP Human_Type_9958 Well I will add we went from $600k to almost $1m in revenue in a year with just the 2 of us. We grew too quickly too fast and couldn't keep up. That's the real story.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 31
    -Nightopian- So you're going to prevent your husband from bringing his children around his family? That's toxic behavior from you and I can certainly see why his parents don't like you.
    via -Nightopian-
  • 32
    OP Human_Type_9958 I have no problem with his family. It's his step FIL that actively ignores our children while giving attention to his own grandkids in front of them. My son even asked why FIL doesnt like him. My husband is on the same page. But I did explain this in my post
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 33
    OP Human_Type_9958 I will also say it was either going to them or filing for chapter 11. My husband's mother is more reasonable is the one that is really more helpful.
    via Human_Type_9958
  • 34
    Mowsmom22 I don't blame you for taking the money to bail your family out. It's ok to go NC. Remember, they loaned that money to your husband, you owe them nothing. Keep your confidence and self respect. I'm very very low contact with my in laws. They don't like me. It's ok. Their son does. I stay home and relax when my husband takes the kids over. She pretends I don't exist. That's ok, she did that when I was in the same room. Protect yourself. You are all you really have in the end.
    via Mowsmom22
  • 35
    OP Human_Type_9958 I needed this, thank you!
    via Human_Type_9958

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