Who Gets the Friends in a Breakup?

Filed in archive on April 9, 2008

If you break up, do you get to keep your friends?

This can be a tricky question. Especially if you've been a couple a while and you have "couple friends." I never would have given this a second thought when I was dating before. Now that I'm in a couple, however, I can see where this might be an issue.

After all, there are some friends you go out with simply because the four of you get along. Would you be friends with one or both of these folks if you weren't in a couple? And if you break up, what happens then? Here are some tips for handling a break up that involves mutual friends.

It might be all too easy to badmouth your ex to your friends or to demand that your ex not see your pals. But the reality is that if you have friends in common, you'll probably keep bumping into your ex from time to time. You've got to handle your break up in a mature manner, or every time you see him or her will ignite an embarrassing situation for your friends as well as yourself.