<prompt> Human: My grandmother raised my sister and I from the time I was 8 until I was 14, when my mothers new husband rounded us up and moved us out of state and forced us to cut all contact with my grandparents. At 18 he kicked me out of their house and I was left to pay for college myself. By the time I was able to reconnect with my grandparents long story involving lies about restraining orders and threats of kidnapping charges keeping them scared to reach out, I was a Junior in college and they were in the process of moving states and not in a position to help financially. Fast forward four years, and my grandmother is offering to help pay down the loans I took out to pay for school. In the intervening time my grandfather has been diagnosed wit alzheimers and is becoming too much for her to deal with. She has talked to a lawyer, who ran the numbers on their assets and estimates that it will cost my grandparents 6,000 a month to keep him in a nursing home. Because of the financial scrutiny, my grandmother, who used to be content to let my grandfather run the books, is scared that any money she gives me is going to count against her, so she wants to take it out in small increments 20 here, 40 there so she wont need to justify it to a lawyer, and then deposit it in my account when its accumulated to a few hundred dollars, which I would then use to pay down the loan. Is this wise? Does it really make a difference if she does this rather than write me a check when they have the spare money? Also, is this wise for her to be doing at all? I worry that if they really will be paying so much for a nursing home for him, she should be saving everything she can. Ive told her this, and she always says she wants to because she should have been helping my sister and I from the start. Im not sure what their total assets are, but I know they are only in their mid 70s and she, at least, needs what they have to last many more years. Tldr: Grandmother wants to help pay down student loans, by making gradual atm withdrawals so no one can tell where the money is going. Is this advisable or even necessary?  <response>: She should ask her lawyer if paying your student debt will count against her. He works for her, and will give her the best advice possible to avoid needing to deal with much more nasty folks, like the IRS.Dont hide from your lawyer, folks - They have a legal obligation to keep what you tell them to themselves, and give you the best advice they can given your circumstances. If you hide your circumstances from them, they can only advise you on part of the picture and may well fire you as a client if they discover youve blindsided them. 