In-Laws Demand Repayment for Unfinished College Semester

Family Financial Dispute

• 📌 A caller is seeking advice because his in-laws are demanding repayment of approximately $6,000 for his wife's unfinished college semester.
• 💡 The wife had to drop the semester due to double pneumonia and her general hatred for engineering, her parents' preferred field.
• 🎯 She is currently working as a ball and dance teacher and has no plans to return to college.

Parental Control and Disapproval

• ⚠️ The in-laws' demand for repayment reportedly surfaced as a way to dissuade the couple from marrying.
• 💔 The wife's mother specifically requested the caller tell her daughter that her degree was the most important thing, a sentiment he could not truthfully convey.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The mother's disapproval stems from her long-standing push for her daughter to pursue engineering, and she does not like the caller.

Financial Fund and Control Tactics

• 💰 The wife's college education was previously funded by a trust left by her grandfather, but her parents claim there is insufficient money in the fund.
• 📉 This claim is supported by the parents' recent directive to their son-in-law to switch to community college due to fund limitations.
• 🗣️ The advice given is to politely refuse the repayment demand without argument or explanation, stating, "I'm sorry, we can't do that."
• 🚩 This situation is characterized as a power play and a flex by the in-laws, not a genuine financial request, and repaying would not resolve their underlying issues.