The strongest of friendships go through their fair share of tests and hurdles.

Just like romantic relationships, the way in which you navigate these bumps in the road together shows just how strong a friendship is.

But some hurdles are just too tough to overcome – and the guy in this story has run into one of those hurdles in his 20-year friendship.

Read on to find out what happened here.

AITA when my best friend got attested on some very serious charges, and his family wants me to sign documents making me legally responsible for over $80,000 if he violates the terms of his bail?

I am a 39-year-old man with a best friend who is 38. We’ve been friends for about 20 years.

He has always been there for me, and is one of the very few people I consider a friend – and the only one I consider a brother.

Recently he got arrested for selling mushrooms, a Class A felony that carries about 25 years in prison from what I understand.

He’s a very kind and considerate person who absolutely does not belong in jail.

Let’s see how this guy has reacted to his friend’s arrest.

Upon finding out, I have been talking to his mother and his long time girlfriend, trying to figure out how to post bail and get him out of jail.

His bail is set at $80,000, and there’s no possibility of raising that money between the three of us.

Initially it was proposed to me to put in $1280.00 to make up the rest of a $5,000 non0refundable bond, the rest of which was made up by my friend’s mom selling his boat and an old box truck.

She was going to put up his house as collateral for the rest of the bond to secure his release.

But things didn’t work out quite as they’d hoped.

After I gave her (the mother) the $1280.00, she informed me that the bail bonds company would not accept the house as collateral as he was behind on the mortgage, and it was necessary to put up another $5,000.

This was a very large portion of the money I had left, and I was just getting laid off from my job. I work construction for a union where lay-offs are common and another job will come by soon, but this money was my safety net.

After much deliberation, I decided to put up the money.

But now they’re telling me that putting up the $6280.00 isn’t enough either and they want me to sign a 29-page legal document too.

Yikes. Let’s see what the terms of this document are.

The document basically states that in the event he does not show up to court (which I have no doubt that he will) or fails to check in with the bond company once a week and after every court date, I would be liable.

In fact, if he gets arrested for any reason whatsoever (besides a minor traffic violation) as well as some other minor stipulations, I would be solely responsible and legally obligated to pay the bond company $80k, plus 9% interest, plus 25% lawyer fees plus filing fees plus investigation fees, etc.

I was told that I would be a “cosigner” along with three other people, but the legal documents I received do not reflect that.

The three people that did agree to sign are his father, his long time girlfriend, and another friend of his.

And there are more reasons why this guy’s best friend is starting to feel like things are more than a little unfair.

From what I understand, his mother raised $3720.00 by selling his boat and an old truck. So no one has put up any of their own money besides myself, and no one has offered their home as collateral, which would negate the necessity of signing these documents.

I rent, so I don’t own a home to put up as collateral myself, but his mother and her husband own a home, as does his father.

The girlfriend and mother are pressuring me to sign the documents, stating that there is no one else that can sign and it’s no big deal because he’ll show up to court.

I would be completely and utterly ruined if he were to violate the terms of his release for any reason, not all of which are even in his control. Would I be wrong for refusing to sign?

AITA?

Sure these guys have been best friends for decades, but this is a really big deal.

Trusting someone is one thing, but trusting them to a point where you will be put into financial ruin if they set a foot wrong?

That’s wild, and not something to be taken lightly.

Let’s see what folks on Reddit made of this.

This person urged him not to sign.

While others were suspicious about the other peoples’ motives.

Meanwhile, there was enough in this story to make this Redditor quite concerned.

To implicate himself to the tune of $80,000 is asking way more of this guy than most people would be comfortable with.

Sure, it’s his best friend and everyone wants him home, but if he breached the terms in even a small way, it would ruin his friend’s life. And really, this guy already broke the law once. Who’s to say what will happen now?

It sucks. But it’s not worth the risk.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.