Probate held up because of debt, which can't be paid until probate is settled

[vfranzen]

My elderly mother whose only income is Medicare and her brother, who is on SSI because of a disability, have been trying to settle their parents' estate for 8 years in probate. There is one credit card bill that has a balance of 30,000. My mother has tried, unsucessfully, to work with the company and relay to them that she wishes to pay the debt but is unable to do so until the probate is settled and they can sell the only asset of the estate, which is the house. The credit card company is unwilling to work with them; and apparently, though the attorney has been paid-in-full (probably because this has dragged on for so many years), the attorney said his hands are tied and is uanble to take action. Is there anything that we can do to absolve/resolve this debt to satisfy the lein to the court just to finish probate so that they can put this behind them and sell the house and move on..and pay the debt? I feel like this will never be finished and I'll be dealing with it when they both pass; and I just can't believe there's not something legally that can be done. Please, I am begging, if there is anything that can be done...HELP!! Thank you so much!!

 

[army judge]

If there is a lien on real estate, there us only one solution to have the lien removed.

That is to pay the debt.

You do see that the lienholder can't force the sale of the home.

So, sell the home.

If the home sells for enough money, the lien gets paid first.

Otherwise, the lien remains in place.

 

[vfranzen]

Thank you for your response. The problem is that my mom is not able to finish the probate proceedings because the court is requiring the debt to be paid prior to probate being completed. She cannot do that until she sells the house. This is the catch-22. Is there a legal document she can get to (or anything she can do) place a lien on the property for the credit card company debt just to finish probate?