Dear Queenie,
My father was abusive and my mother divorced him when I was little. He never paid for child support for me and I have not had any contact with him since they got divorced.
Now he is not able to take care of himself anymore and his relatives who have been taking care of him want me to contribute to the cost. It’s not as if they can’t afford it – they are very well-off and own their own home – but I’m not that well-off and I have a wife and children of my own and we would have to do without a lot of things if I gave his relatives any money.
Queenie, what should I do?—Abandoned son
Dear Son,
If your father did not support you or have any contact with you when you were a child, I do not think you owe him anything now that you are an adult.
Think of it as “chickens coming home to roost,” or as your father having others do unto him as he did unto them.
