Aitah for making my adult kids pay house expenses
The poster, a 56-year-old man, lives in the house where his two adult daughters (aged 22 and 23) grew up.
Both daughters are employed full-time and have moved in with their long-term boyfriends (aged 23 and 24, respectively), resulting in six adults living in the home.
While the daughters and their partners cover their personal expenses, such as cars, insurance, gas, and groceries, the poster noted that the household utility bills have increased due to the extra occupants.
He sent a text message stating that moving forward, he would divide the utility bills by three (one share for himself and one share for each couple) and each party would pay their portion, using a recent $300 electric bill as an example where each of the three units would owe $100.
This decision immediately caused conflict, with the daughters claiming the division was unfair, leading the poster to question if he was in the wrong for implementing this cost-sharing arrangement.
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The poster is seeking to fairly distribute the increased cost of shared household utilities now that six adults reside in the home, while his adult daughters feel the proposed division m**hod is inequitable.
The core conflict centers on defining financial responsibility for shared resources when adult children move back in with partners versus the father's desire to cover increased usage fairly.
Should the poster continue with the proposed division of total household utilities by three parties, or is a different cost-sharing model, perhaps based on the number of people per sub-unit (i.e., 1 person vs. 2 people), more appropriate and less likely to cause resentment?
Commenters Came in Hot with Their Takes:
What started as a simple post quickly turned into a wildfire of opinions, with users chiming in from all sides.