I'm not sure I understand what you mean by your attorney putting a lien on the house. If you are talking about a lien to secure the attorney's fees for the partition suit, then yes you could sign an agreement to do that. Short of persuading your siblings to be reasonable, I am not aware of any way to sell the home without getting a judgment in a partition proceeding. You are allowed to sell just your one-third interest, but it is highly unlikely you could find a buyer for that. However, it appears that it would be easy to get your siblings served with summons and complaint and that they are not likely to file an answer or otherwise respond. In that event, you can obtain judgment by default in a relatively short time. Defendants have 30 days after being served to file an answer or other responsive pleading. At that point, you can apply for a default judgment. Since all you are asking for is a judgment of partition and there are no damages that need to be proved, you may be able to obtain judgment simply by submitting a sworn declaration without the need of a hearing (which could take a while to schedule). Or if necessary, your attorney may be able to file a motion and persuade the court to expedite the default judgment process.
Answered on Nov 11th, 2014 at 3:09 PM