<prompt> Human: Hi. I went to an art school back in the late 90s. Graduated in 99. I was on the phone with my mother last night and she was crying. Apparently she was under the impression that the student loans she took out for me would be taken off when she turns 65 and retires. Im not entirely sure why she would think that she blames Obama but she hasnt been paying this loan for close to twenty years. Im not entirely sure sure what its at now with interest. I already paid off my portion which was close to 30k nearly ten years ago even though I was making next to nothing money wise. My mother has been horrible with her finances. She has no savings or 401k and believes she can retire next year. What can I do about this student loan debt? I want to help but Im also not very happy she hasnt done anything with it in 20 years accept accumulate interest. She has also had a very bad gambling problem for the past 20 years so part of me doesnt even want to help since she has been so irresponsible with her money.Assistant: Just to verify - this student loan doesnt have your name on it in any way. You didnt Co-sign on it and there is no way they can legally come after you for this money, correct?If not, if its in your name too, then its time to start paying it because its not going away. If its only in your moms name, youve got two options, help her pay it off or dont. If she agreed to pay for this part of your education then you dont have any moral obligation to pay her back. Choosing to do so is entirely up to you, but legally you arent responsible. Human: Im pretty sure my mother co-signed the loan. I remember asking my very well off dad if he would cosign for me to go to college and he said no. My mom said she would. Ill find out more info on the loan. I paid off my portion years ago so as far as I know Im off the hook. Wouldnt it show up in my credit reports and such if I had outstanding loans? I have very good credit and havent seen anything like that on my reports. Assistant: If you and your mom cosigned the loan, each of you are responsible for the entire amount of the loan. There is no my part and her part on one loan, unless you mean there were multiple loans, and you paid the ones that was in your name and your mom took out another loan solely in her name.Since you wouldnt need a cosigner on a federal loan, I am guessing that this is a private loan, which are subject to statutes of limitations. She may still owe the debt, but if its past the statute of limitations - as in, if enough time has passed since the last time she made a payment or acknowledged the debt in any way - the creditor may no longer be able to take legal action to collect.Human: Ok good to know. I remember my loan was through Sallie Mae. I will ask her for more information to find out if I am responsible for it.  <response>: Just check your credit report? My student loans are on there. I assume they would be for you too if theyre in your name. Hopefully someone can clear it up for the case of co signing. I never did that. 