This is about how to avoid marrying your in-laws, how to gauge the way your prospective spouse will behave over time and what type of relationship the two of you may end up having.  The following comments are about generalities.  Obviously sometimes there will be some exceptions, but remember, most children turn out like their parents, with little bits of good and bad from both parents.

So, what to do.  Visit your in-laws.  Spend some time with them, observe and listen.  Look for the following:

• How do the parents treat each other? 
• Is there mutual love and respect? 
• How do they relate to one another?
• Do they yell and shout, without ever seeming to resolve their differences?
• Is one more wimpy and constantly folding under the pressure of the other?
• Is one constantly nagging and manipulating to get what they want?
• Is there evidence of abuse of a physical or verbal nature?
• Is there substance abuse?  Or addiction to anything whether porn, food or ?
• How do they treat other people?  Friends, outsiders?  People of another ethnicities?
• If your potential spouse has other siblings that are married, look to see how all of the family members interact.
• Do the parents always get into the other siblings business? 
• Does the family always have to do everything together?  Some time together is good and appropriate.  Every weekend, is too much, is unbalanced and unhealthy.
• Does your significant other spend a lot of time communicating with their family?  How do they communicate? 
• Do they talk every day, all of the time?  Again, there may be a situation that warrants the conversation, but you’re looking for a life long friend to do life with.  Not someone whose world is wrapped up around their parents and places their parents over you.  Of course there are seasons in life when more time will be involved and spent with their parents. 

You need to consider all of these angles and anymore you come up with.  At the end of the day, you will be married to the person and not their family, but you need to know that they consider it that way.  You need to know that the in-laws don’t rate above you.  Remember, the goal is marriage for life, and the in-laws will either support that or try to destroy that.  Choose wisely.