<prompt> Human: Summary: My FIL is 63 years old, diagnosed with lung Cancer 3 years ago. Had surgery initially, then it came back. Currently undergoing 3rd or 4th round of chemoradiation. Hes been hospitalized for a week and its looking more and more like this is the end. He and my MIL shes 57 should be planning for him to go home on Hospice care, but they both have a raging case of denial ... not to be unexpected I suppose. They both are procrastinators extraordinaire. The good: They have decent Health coverage through her job, and have not racked up additional health care related debt. They are not upside down on their mortgage. They both own their very old vehicles outright.The bad: They have repeatedly sapped the equity out of the house since they bought it in 1980, and still owe a significant amount. For reference, they live in an area of NY that had a lot of growth and extremely high gost of living. They couldve seen a 10 fold return on that investment. Just salt in the wound at this point. Theres no way my MIL will be able to afford to live there, in fact they were unable to afford it while they both worked. I would expect her to be able to sell and walk away with a small amount of money. She expects to just get another job and be able to stay there forever.The ugly: They have exactly ZERO savings, and less than 100 bucks in checking account. Theyve been living paycheck to paycheck for 40 years. He has exactly ZERO retirement, and ZERO life insurance. Liquidated them both years ago. His trade was essentially evaporated by technology 30 years ago and hes just been working low end jobs since, he has ZERO benefits through his job. He has used his credit card to pay property taxes the last few years smh and has a large balance. Im unsure of the exact amount, but its over 5K I believe. MIL has not even begun to discuss ANYTHING related to the future, I completely understand the toll this is taking on her ... however ... Theyve had 3 years since first diagnosis to prepare. Its frustrating to say the least. We live in a another State and my wife has been there for a week trying to move things along and has managed to get some SS paperwork started, but is convinced her Mom will just space out and not submitt it. SMHMy questions: What should we consider priority at this point? Has anyone been through this? If so, how can we implant a sense of urgency so she can avoid major debt? How can we insulate ourselves as to not be sucked into the vortex created by a lifetime of someone elses poor decision making? This has already cost me several sick days. lolThanks for reading, and for letting me vent a bit.  <response>: I am living this right now.He owned a business, which he sold 15 years ago, and always has been a very private man.Nobody but him knows where his money went, but its gone. House in an upscale area is falling apart, his wife my MIL is a little loopy, there are family issues pretty much everywhere, and the house is completely dependent on his SS check.6 months cancer treatments. No retirement. Bullshit for insurance. House is very, very much in negative equity. Zero known savings. Had a collection of classic cars...somewhere. Nobody knows where they are, but some of them are super rarevaluable.He died earlier this week. Its hell. Find a friend who is an attorney and have him write up a will for you and your wife, and keep him on retainer I buy mine a bottle of good scotch a few times a year and we are good. Protect your assets.ABOVE ALL: this is your wifes dad. Everything you do should be directed by your wife, and with the only goal being to take care of your MIL. My situation will take a while to figure out, as we need to find the hidden assets, as well as discover the hidden liabilities. If there are siblings, expect to be the bad guy and embrace it. Your wife is priority 1, MIL is 2, everyone else can get fucked. Good luck, sir. 