No kids of my own, so my nieces used to hit me up. All's good now, though. I "loaned" them enough money that I haven't heard from them in years......and I'm fine with that.
Some years ago Ann Landers had a query from an old rich guy as to how to handle money-seeking relatives.
Another rich-old guy came up with a Solomon-like solution. He said that whenever he was approached, e told the relative that he would put up the same amount at the bank and said relative could take out a loan with that as collateral. That way, if the person fell behind on payments, he wouldn't have to dun them, with all that entailed, as the bank would do that for him.
He said there was an immediate separation between the good ones and the grifters. The first group thought it was a good idea, the second said, "Oh never mind"
Granted he ran the risk of a total default, but that never happened as the dead beats backed off.