<prompt> Human: I met the love of my life a few years ago and couldnt be happier that Im marrying her.Unfortunately, her parents have a long history of financial instability. All their lives, theyve engaged in career changes to make money that never work, and money-making schemes that border on fraud, which also never work. When my beloved was a teenager, they dragged her into their schemes, getting her to co-sign for things when their credit was shot.I am a high-earning person and expect to earn even more in the near future. I am happy to finally provide a stable home life for my sweetheart.But Im worried, that some way, some how, her parents will drag us down. Their latest scheme involves a home reno in a distressed neighborhood, that we fully expect will bankrupt them. Again. But this might be their last gasp, because theyre getting too old.My sweetheart keeps them at arms length and we have relatively little contact with them. She insists that shes prepared for this moment over several years of therapy. When her parents come to her for money, shes going to say no. But I still worry. What if they add us to some financial document without our knowledge? Can they exploit the fact that wed probably never sue them?What else could happen?Can I take steps to protect us, before anything happens?Assistant: My sweetheart keeps them at arms length and we have relatively little contact with themThen youll be just fine. Its the spouse you have to worry about IME, not the in-laws. Human: Go on?Assistant: Theyre not your parents, and you have no vested interest in them beyond your SO. Whereas SO might have an issue with them using the state to survive, you probably would not have to feel as bad about it. I think what uatoz88 is saying is that if SO wanted you to support their antics, then it could cause some strain for everyone.Human: Yeah, but as stated elsewhere, shes the one who says shes totally fine with letting them live on social assistance. She says.She works in a field where incomes are low. So, back when she made this pledge to herself that shed never help them again, it was about simple survival.The problem is that with my income, we could choose to help them. And it might be some very acute issue, to do with health or maybe even helping them avoid incarceration. It might seem like oh, just this one time. So that decision may be harder than she expects.P.S. But Im less worried about her, than I am about their shenanigans. They dont know our financial details, but they do have a lot of our other personally identifying information. That may be enough to pull off some kind of fraud.  <response>: Definitely freeze both of your accounts then. It sounds like their past behaviour makes them capable of fraud against you guys, so you should be protecting yourselves against it. And if what they destroyed your wifes credit with was fraud as well, honestly, if it was me, Id expect my husband to be pretty foot-down about them always having a place to visit but beyond that, not getting a dime. They took her future from her; its your job, both of you, to make sure that they dont take your plural futures as well.Id make sure she understands that. Your spouse is going to be the issue here long term. If shes not on board with treating them like this, and adhering to that promise to both of you as a couple, she has the power to destroy both your relationship and both of your financial futures. 