Sara
“Dear Steve,
My sister-in law has recently been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and is currently locked up in in a mental hospital for the next few months, possibily years at this point. She owes about 6000 in student loans for which she has defaulted on. My husband is a co-signer on her loan so he is now forced to pay her loan or risk ruining our credit. He owes over 60K on his own student loans so this is just one extra burden we don’t need.
Do you know if students loans are ever forgiven due to mental illness?
Sara”
The Answer:
Dear Sara,
I wish I had better news for you but I can see your sister-in-law could make an effort to be released from her obligation but that wouldn’t release your husband from his guarantee of the loan if she could not pay. That is what a cosigner does. If the primary person does not pay, the cosigner has agreed to be financially responsible for the loan.
And that’s why I hate co-signing and will never cosign for anyone. Ever.
If you want to protect your credit I think you have no other option but to pay. Otherwise, this won’t end well.
