<prompt> Human: Im 29 and my wife is 23. I am currently working a very secure job making 28K a year gross. Im currently in a entry level type position but have a large amount of experience and expect to promote within my employer it is a county government. My wife is still in college pursuing a Masters of Nursing. We have a solid amount of debt from when I was in school. A couple of credit cards and my student loans mainly. I also owe my mother about 10K or so from her paying our rent for a period of time. Recently, I learned my mothers finances were in shambles since her trust fund has ran out. She received a foreclosure notice in the mail yesterday. She approached my wife and I and asked for 4K and would forgive all of our other debt. The 4K would come from a student loan my wife is receiving. Though I love my Mother and using 4K to take care of 10K is a great idea, Im not sure its in their best financial interest. Im concerned that without oversight they will over spend again and be back behind in the mortgage and lose their house anyways. Maybe not right now, but in the future. Their mortgage is 1300 a month. My sister is willing to pay 500 towards it she lives with them and has been paying 300 a month rent. Still, they need a new roof and I am unsure if the insurance company will replace the roof. My mother has no clue where that money will come from if they are forced to pay for it. My wife and I could also use the F.A. to help ourselves - she wants to attend phlebotomy school in the winter and upgrade her old laptop. But again, the main concern is is keeping the hose a good idea? In summary, my mother wants 4000 from my wife and I now to take care of the 10,000 we owe her. She would use the money to catch up on her back mortgage payments. My concern is that wont be financially responsible enough to keep up on the payments or will have a large, unexpected expense show up to cause her to get behind in her obligations again. She assures me she has a plan.  <response>: The financially smart thing to do would be to pay the 4k to get rid of 10k of debt.The moral thing to do would be to pay the 4k, and still pay the 6k later.The family-conscious thing to do would be to pay the 4k, still pay the 6k, but also sit down and help your mother bang out a good budget and recovery plan. 