<prompt> Human: My parents recently issued me a 30K family trust dividend. My father is battling lung cancer and wants to see his children enjoy some of their inheritance now. I owe 12K to my credit card, do I pay it off now to save some interest, and possibly use some of the credit later in the renovation? I estimate my basement development will cost approx 25K. I will also owe tax on this dividend I think. Any help would be appreciated!  <response>: If its a gift, you should probably make sure your father blesses whatever you do with it.You may want to do some math here, is it possible to pay off the cc debt, and start the renovations with the remaining money post tax, and then in the mean time save what you were paying to cc debt until you get to that 12k point?Just a thought. He might be more accepting of using the gift in this manner to pay off debt. 