After her sister-in-law spent the money from the sale of her parents’ house on upgrades to her own, a reader bristles at being made to feel she must chip into costs for their care.

When an ex returns from out of the blue with the same drinking problem but a new desire to be in his daughter’s life, a reader is unsure how best to protect her child.

Mindful of costs, a reader wonders whether she and her husband are obligated to extend the same hospitality to their daughter’s best friend as to their son’s partner.

A reader asks whether she has to apologize after recounting a joke that used racist language in front of her son’s friend, who later said he had felt unsafe.