<prompt> Human: My mother-In-Law is going through a divorce. She is asking us her daughter is my wife to assume the mortgage. The MIL is asking us because my wife is in the Air Force and is eligible for the VA loan. The soon to be ex-husband is also military and the home is financed under the VA loan. My MIL cannot afford her own mortgage and would be turned down on her fixed income. But she can afford the payments on her own and also has money.Questions are...What is assuming a loan?Would this affect our own VA loan eligibility when we want to buy a home? Were about to go out of the country for 3 years and are waiting to buy.I most likely would stay off the contract to preserve my credit score I know the bank I work for bases the interest on the lowest score, is that true for most lenders? Im not an underwriter just a sales person thats why Im asking all of you!What are negatives associated with this? Edit for reply. I hear everyone on being worried I am too. But she can afford it. Its just she cant qualify for the loan on a fixed income. Or if she could it can not compare to the VA Loan. She will be getting more after the divorce and she has about 74k saved. I trust her she is an amazing person, Im scared of the situation. Most likely we wont be applying for anything while overseas. We have everything we need at the moment. Car, college all that. But the DTI is what is scaring me. Also at the moment we have no kids may try to start trying in December.  <response>: If youre leaving the country for 3 years, and your MIL already has money issues - DO NOT DO THIS. If your MIL has nobody else in the world who can help her out of this situation - there is a reason for it. 