answer:My adult step children and their father (my former husband) have had serious ups and downs over the years but they talk about it. If my ex has or had issues, he dealt with them. I stayed neutral. Ditto when I had issues with my children; my ex (their step-father) kept out of it. Has he felt disrespected? Has he talked to them individually about what is going on? Do the kids present a united front or do they have individual beefs? It does get very complicated, particularly when one party has some vulnerabilities. For years when my step-sons were teen-agers and young adults, they blamed amost everything on me…the wicked step-mother and Jezebel. Eventually we sorted things out, primarily because they grew up and had families of their own. I’m not sure how helpful this is.