OK, I may have posted like 3 times in the past. I come on here seasonally to see chatter about football and basketball, and jumped on when I saw Pope bouncing. A good friend said this is a topic for Cougar Board. I've never thought to give y'all a try with something like this, but here it goes:

 
Names have been changed to protect the innocent

Mother in law, Evelyn, passed away shortly after she retired almost 2.5 years ago. My wife, Betty, and her older sister, Karen, inherited the home they grew up in in northern Arizona. Its paid off. My wife stated from the beginning that she'd like to either sell the home to another party or have her sister buy her out. 

Karen was living with her mother for several years before she passed. Karen doesn't have any children and eventually decided and continues to date a subpar boyfriend. Karen used to be on track with a successful career, but emotions, mental health, and maybe some political fragility interfered with her economic productivity. After her mother passed, she decided to take a year hiatus from work to address some mental matters, but she's back to work and bringing in an income. She never paid her mother any rent (but didn't save any money during the last several years either, probably supporting her subpar boyfriend in possibly ill-advised activity). She is now affording the modest home. She's paying for the insurance, taxes, utilities, food, etc. When considering the "estate" matters, she says "Mom would want it this way" which is a pretty vague phrase, but sounds like either 1) "Mom would want me to have a roof over my head" or possibly 2) "I get the house and you get nothing." Option 2 could be felt, but never legally stated as Betty felt second rate, she joined the Church when parents didn't approve.  

We live in northern Utah. Before Evelyn passed away, we added Karen to our phone plan sharing my military discount. Contrary to the original terms of paying every month, she only pays us half the time for the service if we're lucky. We have 4 kids, Betty is in school. I have a good job, but with inflation, and having started to build a home just before economy went south, and locked in financing after rates went north, things are pretty tight for us right now. Karen might see that we're doing just fine, but that's really not a fact of the matter. We paid for funeral and probate needs. My wife cares about her sister and wants to keep a relationship intact.

My wife has been very patient with the circumstances and although my wife was much closer emotionally to her mother than Karen, Karen's been milking the arrangements. The home definitely needs some TLC. Both women currently own the home, but my wife wants out. Karen hasn't done anything about seeking financing to buy my wife out. I believe a HELOC is the best answer for Karen to pay my wife out and also pull some extra funding out to fix a broken/major crack in the foundation and improve the home in other ways. I'm sure there's a process to follow for my wife to sign over the home after funding is acquired and she's paid out. I believe Karen has the collateral to qualify for the HELOC with a paid off home, but I've also heard of other financing opportunities like my wife and I write a loan and Karen pays us off (not the bank) and if she defaults then we get the house, but this could lead to more emotions and manipulations.

The problem is Karen isn't doing anything to progress in obtaining financing, or trying to own the home on her own. Karen keeps promising that she'll get it taken care of by some date in the future that always comes and goes. It feels like Karen is "squatting" in a home she and my wife own together. If rent were charged for a comparable home, it might run about $1,200/mo for this 3 bed, 1 bath home. For 2 years of "rent" that Karen hasn't paid, it might run about $14,400/year for 2 years divided by 2 sisters would come to $14,400 that Karen should pay Betty for shacking up in this place and not buying her out in a timely fashion. 

I'm unsure what actions we can/should take. Any ideas out there? 

Thanks for your professional and non-professional opinions.