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Megan
Devoted May 2023

Me again... full of questions...

Megan, on January 19, 2021 at 11:09 PM Posted in Family and Relationships 0 9

My FH and I are going to have a DW (family scattered worldwide, might as well all meet somewhere). It is extremely important to us that our kids are included (I have 3 he has 1--I can't imagine getting married without mine present and I would hate for his to not be either). However, it's hard to get his ex-wife to coordinate his rightful court ordered time let alone taking their daughter away for a week. Their relationship is strictly theirs and I don't like meddling--but it isn't rocket science to say they don't get along...at all.

If FH's parents make it, it would also be the first time they meet their grandchild who will be nearly 7 on the wedding date. Outside of the wedding part, I'd love for them to finally meet her as well.


I want to offer to purchase airfare and a hotel for the ex-wife if she'll allow their daughter to come to the wedding. I don't want to invite her to the wedding festivities themselves but flying her there and housing her and allowing her to do what she wants to so their daughter can participate, meet grandparents, etc. I would pay for this myself. Is this stepping on too many toes? Too weird? Risk kiddo not being able to go without her/her rightfully so not wanting to pay to attend her ex husbands new wedding? Should I just stay out of it and let him work it out? I just feel awful if my kids are in those photos looking back and she isn't Smiley sad


9 Comments

Latest activity by Megan, on January 20, 2021 at 4:31 PM
  • A
    Super December 2020
    Anais ·
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    Have you spoken to your FH about it? What does he think? He knows her better than any of us and should be a better judge as to what she might think about that.
    I think your heart is in the right place and you seem very sweet. I’m not sure if the ex would want to stay by herself in a place she doesn’t know. See what your FH thinks and I’d probably recommend that if he agrees, that he should bring it up to her and not you.
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  • Megan
    Devoted May 2023
    Megan ·
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    He shuts down. Anything that isn't clear cut/easy to handle he just... doesn't do it. Confrontation isn't his strong suit at all

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  • Rebecca
    Master August 2019
    Rebecca ·
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    Ok, then he needs to learn to deal with this.

    Especially as his parents haven't met his kid!

    A counselor might be a good option, here, as they can help mediate discussions as thorny as this, as well as develop strategies to deal with the on going problems.

    That said, this sounds very nice, but liable to backfire on you.

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  • J
    Master 0000
    Judith ·
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    She could turn you down flat out of spite. Provided you are past the worst pf Covid, you should petition for a court ordered temporary change in custodial visits to allow her to be with her dad and family for a week to tem days. Ask a few days extra, in case weather or airlines cause delays. You would have no trouble having counsel consider this best for the welfare of the child long term. Particularly at age 7, and meeting some family like grandparents for the first time. It may matter what destination you choose. Don't choose a really poor country with poor medical care, or other hot button issues. Neither of you may even have to appear. You might do a brief video deposition in your attorney's office, judge willing.
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  • M
    VIP January 2019
    Maggie ·
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    It's a perfectly nice idea, but it literally doesn't matter what we think. I wouldn't do ANYTHING involving his ex-wife that he doesn't explicitly agree to. And ideally, all communication with her should go through him as well. This is something he needs to figure out for his daughter's sake, but you can't manage this for him.

    Luckily he has more than a year before the wedding to work on his communication and co-parenting. I would encourage him to do that and then stand back until he asks for help.

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  • Sarah
    Master September 2019
    Sarah ·
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    You shouldn’t do anything that he isn’t 100% on board with. If it’s that hard to get her to agree to his regular visitation, your FH needs to file an order of contempt and establish this issue with the court. If he’s just said “eh whatever” any time she’s gone against their agreement, he’s likely to have a struggle convincing a judge he deserves even more time. Even if you offer, she could still say no and if it’s international travel you’ll have to get her permission regardless of whether it’s your week with the daughter or not.
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  • Megan
    Devoted May 2023
    Megan ·
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    Thank you everyone. I am going to sit back and let him handle this one. I'll budget to afford airfare/lodging for ex if that's a route we pursue, but I won't press it/meddle.

    Thank you for the insight everyone! All these things that pop up as a potential headache with wedding planning Smiley xd

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  • Michelle
    Rockstar December 2022
    Michelle ·
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    Let fiance handle this and arrange to meet at another time such as a summer picnic family reunion. It is rude and awkward to arrange for kids to travel for the wedding but be restricted from attending.
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  • Megan
    Devoted May 2023
    Megan ·
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    We would 100% want kiddo to attend wedding & festivities--just not her mom/FH ex-wife. She'd be free to do her own thing and wouldn't be expected to entertain the kiddo at all if she agreed to only let their daughter come if she came (admittedly idk the child as well as I want to and may potentially cause distress to travel and be away from mom for the week we plan to be gone). I'd try to allocate money so mom could have a vacation herself and not just travel and lodging expenses.

    I do think I'm going to take a backseat on this one though and let DH handle it- my eyes are open to how potentially toe stepping and messy it could be if I assert myself.

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