The thing about relationships is that you can have an absolutely wonderful time while having wildly different expectations about your present and future together.

See where this husband supposedly went wrong.

AITAH for refusing a marriage contract that gives my spouse a percentage of my income?

I’m a 30 year old man, and I was dating a 27 year old woman who lived in a neighboring town. We dated for three months, and it was going incredibly well.

We spent Christmas together, we planned a trip to Canada for next month, we had deep and agreeable conversations about our values and our future plans, etc.

Here is where their relationship unravelled.

Then, we had a late night video call on Saturday. She is prone to being very anxious about the future of our relationship while we were apart, but it was something that we were able to work through each time and I felt like I could live with it.

This time, the conversation turned to a list of non-negotiables she had written out that were mandatory for her in a relationship. She had brought this up before and I thought it was strange, but the list was pretty reasonable and it worked for her so I didn’t worry about it.

Well, she decided to add another item to the list: In the event that she got married, her husband would have to sign a legal document requiring him to give her a percentage of his income.

She asked me if I would do that, and I told her that I didn’t think I would want to.

His decision didn’t go over well.

My resistance to it turned into an argument that lasted for several days over the phone.

She sent me paragraphs of explanations about how her experience working as a paralegal, her upbringing in a single income home in the Phillipines, her status as a woman and her trauma over her last relationship led her to the conclusion that she wanted guaranteed income from her spouse.

She believed that she would never trust a man to want to provide for her, and that she would never settle for anything less than a contract that obligates him to. She would not compromise on this, and it even came down to me being given an ultimatum: I verbally agree that I would sign this contract now, or she would find another man who would.

I’m three months into a relationship and my partner is demanding that I agree to a bizarre, legally-binding document that would affect my finances for the rest of my life. I expressed that I was not comfortable with doing that, but she wouldn’t let it go.

Now he’s dumbfounded about this senseless turn of events.

Even though our relationship had been wonderful up to this point, she ends up breaking up with me over this yesterday. She accused me of trying to manipulate her into settling for something less than what she wanted.

She said that I triggered her memories of her last relationship where she made excuses for her partner who didn’t put in any effort and deflected her issues when she tried to voice them to him.

She felt like my failure to agree to her contract was a sign that I wouldn’t consistently support her needs in the future, and that I didn’t care enough about her to make her feel safe.

She was adamant that what she was asking is totally reasonable, and my unwillingness to accept it was unacceptable for her – enough so that it was 100% grounds enough to end our relationship.

AITA for not agreeing to her contract?

Here is what folks are saying.

A good way to be if you can.

Ha good luck with that!

I don’t know… She seems too self-absorbed for that.

An unexpected boost for Philippines tourism.

Silver linings!

Sometimes the best thing for you stings terribly.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.