There are 4 heirs. One owes $24,000 to the estate. Are they entitled to 25% of that? They think they now only owe $18,000.

Hello b:

Well he does... But if it's confusing, he should pay the $24,000 today, and get back his $6,000 when the estate is distributed...

Or, he can pay the $18,000 and agree with the three other heirs that they'll split $24,000 of the estate 3 ways, and the rest 4 ways.

This IS solvable.

excon

In the case of my late husband Probate Court required that the loan be repaid and THEN his Estate was divided by percentages. The debtor was not allowed to subtract the loan from the share.

This may very well vary by State.

He owes the estate, that should be repaid and then divided.

But he owes the full amount, but would receive back a share,
If eh merely paid the estate back minus his share then he would not get equal division of it.

Keep it straight, full payment, then full shares.