if there was a lien put on property in 2002 and we are just finding out about it , and it was not the property owners fault ,(they were minors at the

You have not provided enough information for me to understand the problem.  How could "minors" be the owners of real estate?  How could their "mother" put a lien on property she did not own?  What is your connection to the land?  If it belongs to the children, are you one of them?  I will guess at a couple of things:  I will guess first of all that the mother had some kind of repair work done on the house in 2002.  If she had title to the house at the time, the contractor could have legally placed a lien on the property because he was entitled to receive pay for the work done. If he placed a lien on the property in 2002, he may have waited too long to enforce it.  Ordinarily, a lien by a general contractor must be enforced by suit filed within 6 months after the last work was performed or the right to enforce it will expire.  The contractor would still be able to file a suit under the contract.     If, for some reason, the children had inherited the property and Mom really didn't own any interest in it, the contractor may have been misled about the title.  He would still be entitled to receive his pay for work done and, I think, could still file a lien.  But if title was indeed in minors at the time, he perhaps could not enforce the lien by suit until the children reached maturity -- and he may have lost the right to enforcer it at all.  You should make an appointment with a competent real estate attorney in your area and inform him of the details.  There probably will be a modest conference charge but that should be money well spent to learn whether you have a real concern.  To anguish over the uncertainty is a poor choice when a modest conference fee can almost certainly provide the information that you need.