<human>: Can you give me the gist of the text in a nutshell?

My spouse and I got a collections letter indicating I owed $4,000 and change on a Chase card I had with my now deceased mother. I was the primary she was an authorized user. We did this so I could build credit in college, etc. It worked well. Until she hit hard times near the end of her life and apparently used the card to live on. Times were so rough we just let the house go back to the bank and didn't bother filing probate, because there was no longer any real property or enough cash to warrant doing so. Our attorney says we're liable no matter what, if she were still alive you could dispute it, but otherwise we're toast.

The collection agency is offering three payment options. A one time payment of $1,600, two payments of $900, or paying the full amount in monthly installments.

I have savings enough to offer to pay the full amount today. My spouse and I put roughly $2,000 a month into a savings plan and were planning on buying a house, and replacing a car in the next year. Of course, now my credit it toast. We have zero debt beyond this. No student loans, no other car payment, nothing! We actually really hard to keep it that way. So, would paying the full amount benefit over just taking the cheap route?

Thanks in advance for the advice.
<bot>: I have a $4,000 credit card collections bill that I can pay a $1,500 settlement on, or pay the full amount as well. What is the benefit to me?