I’d like some advice about money.

I can’t really say without more details about how you received a year’s worth of allowance all at once. It depends on the circumstances.

I think it depends on how much it is. If it’s a small amount, I’d just accept it as a parting payment. But if it were too large, it would scare me, so I’d probably return it. Ideally, I’d discuss it and try to receive at least half, though… I suppose it also depends on why you’re breaking up. If he simply found someone else, I’d ignore it. But if someone had gotten sick and needed the money for medical expenses, I’d return it. I wouldn’t want them to resent me… So in the end, it comes down to how you feel about it. I’m guessing that since you’re asking here, you don’t really want to return it and are wondering what to do.

Ugh… sounds like you ended up with a really weird papa. If you were barely at fault, he’s just unhinged, so fighting it will probably only leave you feeling drained. It’s frustrating, but the safest option here is probably to simply pay it back and move on. You could leave him with one last brutally sarcastic remark before saying goodbye.

> Since it was paid upfront, could I be sued if I don’t return it? If you’re worried about being sued, you can rest easy. ① A mistress arrangement isn’t legally recognized as a valid contract, so even if there were a written agreement, I think the court would dismiss the case. ② Even if it were treated as a contract, the other person is trying to terminate it during the agreed term, so it would be natural for a cancellation fee to apply. In ordinary terms, this seems like a situation where it wouldn’t be unreasonable to receive the full amount for the remaining period as a cancellation fee. I’m not sure how many months are left, though. ③ If you regard it not as a contract, but simply as something you were given, then you have no obligation to return it. Occasionally, someone will demand that everything they’ve given so far be returned, but there’s no legal basis for that. ④ The most common response would probably be, “I’ve already spent it.” You can’t collect money from someone who no longer has it. So there’s no need to worry about being sued, but there is a risk that they may hold a personal grudge. Anyone who demands that you return the money clearly doesn’t understand the law, and that’s scary because you never know what they might do. It means they’re the kind of person who thinks it’s perfectly fine to engage in illegal behavior themselves. With that in mind, if you received ¥2.4 million for one year and three months have passed, you could return the remaining nine months’ worth. If you’d be uncomfortable being told so suddenly, you could keep one extra month’s worth—giving one month’s notice is standard in ordinary contracts—and return the amount for the remaining eight months. That might be a good way to satisfy the other person. Which option you choose is up to you. Legally, you could insist that the contract is invalid and refuse to return anything, or you could return the amount for the remaining months. As Make-Otoko wrote, if you keep saying that you don’t want to break up, there’s also a possibility that the remaining money could be treated as a breakup settlement. Oh, come to think of it, there was a man a little while ago who was deliberately doing something like this, and I believe he was forcibly banned. Could this be the same person? If so, I think it would be best to ignore him completely. If he sued you, various other things would probably come to light as well, so I doubt he would actually do it. Besides, the contract is invalid anyway… P.S. If I were in your position, I wouldn’t return it either. (lol) I’d be tempted to say, “You’re ending the arrangement halfway through, and you’re not even showing the other person any consideration? With a real estate contract, the deposit is generally returned double.”

How many months were you together? As for the legal side of things… I’m not sure. If you agreed that the money would be returned if you broke up partway through, then you’d have to repay it in monthly installments. But did you sign a contract or anything? Either way, what a petty man. If that’s how he felt, he shouldn’t have given it to you in the first place. Questioner, did you happen to spend it all? You should probably call a lawyer for a consultation.

Personally, I don’t think you need to pay it back, but everyone sees it differently. At the very least, that man is asking for a refund because he believes you should return the money. Whether he can actually sue you depends on what he decides to do, so there’s no way to know. I think it’s best not to get involved with someone who’s out of their mind. If you want the money badly enough to take the risk, you could refuse to pay it back and fight it all the way. That said, I don’t know how much a year’s worth of allowance amounts to, but if he did sue you, I feel like the money would disappear into legal fees anyway.

That’s unbelievably stingy... I think things would probably go more smoothly if you returned it, but that’s just outrageous... Maybe try digging in your heels and saying, “I don’t want to break up”?