This is a tough one, folks…

And it’s obvious that the guy who wrote this story on Reddit is having some serious inner turmoil regarding the situation he finds himself in.

It involves child custody, and he has to choose between staying true to his word or listening to his wife.

Is he doing anything wrong?

Let’s see what he had to say…

AITA if I back out of being a kids guardian after my friends died?

“Years ago, my wife and I were close friends with a couple.

We spent a lot of time together in our late 20s, early 30s and it was one of those friendships that felt like family.

When they had their first child, they asked us if we’d be okay being listed as the kids’ legal guardians in case something ever happened to them.

At the time, it felt casual, it seemed more symbolic than anything serious.

We said yes, and paperwork was signed. Life moved on.

But over the years, things changed.

We drifted apart, no drama, just distance. We moved, changed jobs, and eventually we stopped talking altogether. We haven’t seen or spoken to them in about three years.

How terrible…

Then, last month, I got the news about the two of them passing away from carbon monoxide poisoning incident. They left behind two kids, m12, f8.

I was contacted by a lawyer informing me that we were still listed as their legal guardians.

I was stunned.

I hadn’t even thought about that conversation in years, and now it’s real. These two kids just lost their parents, and now the expectation is that we take them in.

The truth is, we don’t want to, well my wife more then me.

I don’t want to raise two grieving children I haven’t seen since they were little, but at the same time I want to take them in because their parents were our good friends and trusted us.

This is a complicated situation.

My wife is completely against it. She was never close with them in the first place. We don’t have kids of our own by choice, and she’s made it clear she doesn’t want to change our entire lives over a promise made in a very different time.

Still, I feel awful.

These are two innocent kids, and we were once important enough in their parents’ lives to be entrusted with their future. But that relationship hasn’t existed in a long time.

I’ve looked into it and learned that I’m not legally obligated to accept. I can formally decline in court, but the guilt is heavy.

He’s torn about this.

I am somewhat open to taking them in but I can’t just force my wife to accept that and I won’t do that.

I feel like a horrible person especially because we have more then enough to provide for them and I know that these kids used to love us when we were close to their parents.

They are staying at an emergency home for kids without parents, I looked these up and the conditions aren’t ideal. If we don’t take them in they will be moved to another home, again like an orphanage.

I will call the lawyer to see what are the chances they can get adopted by someone else and if we can foster them until that. I don’t know if I’m talking nonsense, but I read the process and rules of that and it seems possible in my country.

He hopes to convince his wife to at least let them stay with them for awhile.

I’ll still try to talk to my wife about it, she has to at least agree to take them in for a little while until we can figure something out.

I know I’m wrong for saying yes in the first place but things changed in the meantime. We live in another city now, although the home they’re staying at is close to our city.

In no way I want to shade the parents but I do think it was their responsibility to consider the face that we weren’t so close anymore.

Also about the other possible guardians, actually at the time when we did sign those papers I did ask them why not some of their closer relatives and my friend, their dad said that the only option would be the grandma, who I know as a big drinker since years ago.”

That is such a heartbreaking situation.

Check out what Reddit users had to say about this.

This person shared their thoughts.

Another individual spoke up.

This Reddit user said he’s a jerk.

Another reader agreed.

And this person chimed in.

Yikes…this guy is definitely in a tough situation here…

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.