Latest news with #son
Washington Post
6 hours ago
- General
- Washington Post
My son texted me in a panic after he overheard his dad having sex
Dear Meghan: My teenager was at his father's house last night, and he texted me: 'OMG, they are doing it! She is so loud. It is only 7 p.m.!' What is the right answer? We've been divorced since my son was 5 years old. His father is now remarried, and my son grew up with two families.
Telegraph
6 hours ago
- General
- Telegraph
‘We helped our son buy his home, but his ex-wife kept it'
Do you have a legal question to put to Gary? Email askalawyer@ or use the form at the bottom of the page. Dear Gary, I am enquiring about my son's recent acrimonious divorce. After three years of legal wrangling, it was finalised, but not in my view in a way that is fair. My son felt worn down by the process and pressured to accept a settlement very much in favour of his ex-wife. He did this so he can move on with his life and to preserve his mental wellbeing. My husband and I have supported our son through his marriage and aftermath both emotionally and financially. We contributed significantly to his first home and, later, gave a further substantial sum via a deed of variation on my late mother's will to help purchase the former matrimonial property. Despite this, the settlement agreed has given 70pc of the equity in the home to his ex-wife. She made no financial contribution and did not do so during the marriage. My son is paying the full mortgage despite not living in the house. He also attends to repairs and maintenance. The property is up for sale but is attracting little interest. My son wishes to lower the asking price to the figure named in the divorce settlement. However, his ex-wife refuses. Can she block this? And indeed, with everything that's happened, is there anything my son can do to challenge the unfair divorce agreement? He's also paying spousal maintenance and child costs. He's emotionally drained and, frankly, low. We're worried for his well-being and the apparent injustice of it all. – Ruth, by email Dear Ruth, I am sorry to hear about your son's experience. Clearly divorce is difficult for the couple at the centre of it. But it is often overlooked how distressing it can be for interested onlookers like parents. And you having made a financial contribution to the marriage pot is also tricky for you when that pot is divided up in a manner beyond your control. In England and Wales, financial settlements made in divorce proceedings are intended to be final. Once agreed by the parties (usually through their lawyers), they go to court for approval by a judge and become legally binding. That means your son cannot revisit the entire agreement simply because it now seems unfair, unless he can demonstrate one of a very limited number of legal grounds. With respect to you, I must also say that a settlement which appears one-sided, or which was accepted under emotional strain, is not necessarily invalid. Courts expect both parties to have received legal advice and to weigh the risks of settlement. If your son had legal representation and signed willingly – even if reluctantly – the chances of undoing the agreement are slim. Indeed, the rationale you give that he signed 'to move on with his life' is a valid one, which in no way undermines the validity of the decision. Despite film and TV dramas portraying otherwise, a common outcome of litigation – and especially divorce cases – are not one party celebrating victory over the other, but rather two disappointed parties having to learn to live with a changed situation. To appeal the financial settlement, your son must show that either there was fraud or misrepresentation, or there was material non-disclosure (for example, one party hiding assets), or there has been a supervening event (a so-called 'Barder event') that fundamentally undermines the basis of the settlement. A Barder event (named after the 1987 case Barder v Barder) refers to a significant and unforeseen change of circumstances occurring shortly after a settlement is made that invalidates the assumptions upon which the court's decision was based. Classic examples include a party dying or a dramatic financial collapse. Sadly, the courts apply this doctrine narrowly and mental distress or regret do not meet the threshold. That said, if your son's ex-wife is deliberately obstructing the house sale and thereby undermining the financial basis of the settlement, this may amount to grounds for a variation or enforcement application. Not a full appeal, but a possible course of action. If the divorce settlement includes an agreement that the house should be sold, and sets a minimum price or mechanism for marketing the property, then both parties must act in good faith to achieve that sale. If your son's ex-wife is unreasonably refusing to agree to a realistic market price, she may be in breach of the order. In that case, your son could apply to the family court for an order to enforce the original court order. Or he could ask for the court to appoint a trustee to take over the sale. The practical difficulty, of course, is that further legal action means further cost – both financial and emotional. But if the situation becomes untenable, it may be necessary, and just threatening this to his ex-wife may force her hand. The sums you and your husband gave as gifts, including the money passed from your late mother's estate via a deed of variation, were significant. However, in English law, such contributions are generally treated as part of the matrimonial pot unless clearly ring-fenced or loaned with formal documentation. It is deeply frustrating for generous parents to see their support swallowed up in a financial settlement. But courts often prioritise needs – in this case, the needs of young children to have a home – over tracing the origin of funds. Had the gifts been structured as loans or protected by a declaration of trust, they might have been treated differently. It's scant consolation now, but worth bearing in mind for others in similar positions. The impact of ongoing financial obligations – mortgage, maintenance, and child support – is clearly weighing heavily on your son. If he is struggling with mental health, he could contact organisations such as Both Parents Matter, which support separated families. In some circumstances, it may be possible to apply for a variation of spousal maintenance, particularly if your son's financial circumstances have deteriorated. This again would require a court application, but it's worth discussing with a solicitor if things become unsustainable. Above all, encourage your son to look after his own wellbeing – and yours. He is lucky to have you in his corner, but sometimes moving on is a better route than fighting on.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Fury as terrified Jewish father and his six-year-old son are 'attacked and called murderers' by enraged pro-Palestine crowd after stopping at Italian motorway service station
A furious row has erupted in Italy after a man claims he and his six-year-old son were attacked at a motorway service area by an enraged pro-Palestinian crowd. The man, who has not been named, and his son had stopped to use the facilities at the rest area while driving from Milan to their home in Paris after a holiday. They were both wearing traditional Jewish kippahs and attracted the attention of people at the services near Lainate on the main Milan-Lagi motorway. The father, who managed to capture the incident on video as he and his son were insulted and attacked, said they were both left 'terrified'. In the clip which was later uploaded to social media, a group of people can be heard shouting in Italian 'Palestina Libera '(Free Palestine)' and 'Go back home'. Others also shout in Italian 'Assassini' (murderers) while another adds: 'This isn't Gaza, here is Italy' and another can be heard shouting: 'You will go to hell sooner or later'. The man's son, can clearly be seen in the clip, and he looks on with a scared look on his face as the crowd increased their hostility At one point, the video appears to shake, as the man claims he is pushed to the floor and then kicked with the crowd demanding he delete the video. Police eventually arrived after ten minutes and the man and his son were questioned about what happened. The video was shared on several anti Semitic campaign groups, with one commentator writing:' This is how it started in the Netherlands when I was a boy in 1941. I'm seeing it happen all over again.' In an interview with Italian media, the man, named only as Eli, 52, said:' We were on our way back from a trip to Lake Maggiore and I was with my youngest son, his sister and her husband, who is Italian. 'We were driving back to Milan and then I was going to carry on back to Paris where I live and manage a clothes store. 'I was heading towards the bathroom when one of the cashiers saw me and shouted Free Palestine' and it was him who sparked everything off. 'I gestured that I couldn't speak Italian but that he should stop, and I then started to film him and at that point others joined in. 'People were shouting 'killers' and 'genocide' and I was trying to protect my young son and then tried to walk us both to the bathroom. 'When we came up the stairs from the bathroom, there was a crowd there and they told me to delete the video and started pushing me. The man – who managed to capture the incident on video as he says he and his son were insulted and attacked – said they were both left 'terrified'. 'At that point I lost sight of my son, and I thought I have to defend myself but I ended up on the ground. 'They were like animals kicking me. I couldn't see my son but fortunately a woman had taken him away and was looking after him in a corner. I saw wild animals.' When asked if he had expected something like this he said: 'Frankly, yes because of the climate of hate in Europe but I didn't expect it in Italy, I thought it was a tolerant country. 'I'm still shocked, the police questioned me for two hours after it happened and they are still investigating, things like this are happening all too frequently now. Later writing on X, Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini said:' What happened in the service area at Lainate is very serious. 'A father and his six-year-old son on holiday in Italy, attacked and insulted purely because they are Jewish, and called murderers. 'I had hoped that Jew baiting had ended with the death of Nazi fascism, it is unacceptable that in 2025 in our country it is still happening.' A spokesperson for Milan police said: Officers were called to the service area on Sunday evening (27 July) and are investigating the incident. 'CCTV from the scene has been obtained and is being examined, and also cameras in the car parking area are being looked at as some suspects went in that direction. 'We will be looking to see if any of those caught on film can be identified.'
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
China siblings fight over dad's US$420,000 inheritance, discover neither is biological child
An inheritance dispute in China took a dramatic turn when a brother and sister battling over a three million yuan (US$420,000) legacy inadvertently discovered that neither of them was the biological child of their deceased parents. Advertisement The case began after Sun, the family patriarch from the city of Tianjin in northern China, died in March 2025, according to the Henan Broadcasting System. Before his death, he had transferred ownership of a three million yuan property solely to his son. He also left a statement requesting that his son provide 'reasonable compensation' to his adopted daughter. The siblings, both of whom were adopted, were locked in battle over a residential property. Photo: AFP 'Our daughter is adopted, but we have always treated her as our own. In our later years, it was our son who took care of us. We gave the house to him, and he intends to compensate his sister. We hope you two can get along like true siblings,' the statement read.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Plane passenger annoyed when another flyer refused to do her a ‘favor' — but there's a big reason why you shouldn't
A plane passenger refused to do a 'favor' for a fellow traveler — but she might've had good reason. The passenger took to Reddit to ask whether she was in the wrong for refusing to watch someone's bags at the gate. The user explained that they were sitting next to a woman with a young son who needed to go to the bathroom 10 minutes before boarding began. The mom asked the passenger for what she said was a 'big favor' — to watch their bags while she took her son to the bathroom. 'I said I'm really not supposed to. She gives me the stink eye,' the user wrote. A different woman next to them in the boarding area said she would watch the bags, but the mom was 'clearly still mad' that they said no. They explained their reasoning in the post, saying that 'not only is this a safety issue (probably not in this case, but in theory), but also I wouldn't have wanted to miss my boarding group.' The mom and son did end up coming back in time to board, but not before boarding started, the poster said. 'I used to have young kids, and if mine had to go to the bathroom, I would always just schlep my bags to the bathroom. I wouldn't ask someone else to watch the bags,' the user said. They also explained that they had a previous experience where they got 'bawled out' by a gate agent when they were about to watch someone else's bags, with the agent saying it wasn't allowed. In the U.S., there are regular TSA announcements warning passengers not to leave luggage unattended and to keep their belongings with them at all times, as well as not to accept any items from strangers. People on Reddit sounded off in the comments, with a majority of users agreeing that the passenger was right to decline. 'If the woman and son were your wife and child, you'd be the [a–hole]. Otherwise you're good,' one said. 'TBH I'm more surprised that she trusted a stranger enough to watch her bags,' another wrote. 'But yeah that's something airport employees mention every time you go through an airport. Don't do that. Not worth it!' 'It's actually a safety issue in airport s… you're never supposed to take responsibility for someone else's bags bc you don't know what could be in them. May sound crazy considering it's a lady and a kid, but you never know, and that's what airports advise,' someone commented. 'If there is something dangerous or hazardous in the bags, you could be held responsible. They should have taken their bags with them to the bathroom.' 'The list of possible bad outcomes is too large. It's not a matter of being nice or not, it's just not the right thing to do,' a user said. Others weren't as sure. 'I've watched bags for moms with kids running to a bathroom before, because I'm a nice person. I also hold the door open for people because I'm a nice person. It's not like she asked you to transport her luggage … she needed to take her kid to go to the bathroom,' someone said. 'Is it really that big of a deal to watch someone's bags for 5 minutes?' another questioned. 'I guess it might be situational but do you really think a woman with a young child has packed contraband and gotten through security? And somehow you'll be blamed for it?' one asked. Solve the daily Crossword
