(Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday gave embattled plaintiffs attorney Tom Girardi the green light to stay in his mansion in Pasadena, California, as the Chapter 7 trustee overseeing his estate moves to sell it.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Barry Russell said during a hearing that the deal struck between Girardi's brother Robert Girardi, who is serving as temporary conservator, and trustee Jason Rund was "fairly straightforward."

The deal, which was first unveiled on Friday, will give Tom Girardi 20 days to vacate the mansion once it is in escrow. The mansion has become too expensive for Tom Girardi to maintain, said Leonard Pena, an attorney at Pena & Soma who is representing Robert Girardi.

"There's no way the debtor can service the mortgage on this property," Pena said during Tuesday's hearing. "He plans on moving, but obviously we didn't want it to happen overnight."

Pena said Rund, as the trustee, has inventoried the mansion's contents. The mansion, reportedly worth at least $15 million, is 10,277 square feet with four bedrooms and six full bathrooms, online real estate listings show.

At one point, the judge questioned whether Girardi's wife, "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star and singer Erika Jayne, was aware of the bankruptcy proceedings. He also questioned what would happen to the mansion's contents.

Timothy Yoo, a partner at Los Angeles-based Levene, Neale, Bender, Yoo & Brill who is representing Rund, noted that Jayne's attorney, Peter Mastan, the managing partner of Dinsmore & Shohl's Los Angeles office, has made an appearance in the Chapter 7 case.

Yoo said he sent emails to Mastan saying the couple's communal property in the mansion now belongs to the trustee. He also said the California state court overseeing the divorce proceedings between Jayne and Tom Girardi is aware of the bankruptcy case.

Mastan, Pena and Yoo did not respond to requests for comment.

The deal requires Tom Girardi and his brother to ensure the mansion is kept "neat and tidy" and that the utilities are paid. It also prohibits them from communicating with potential buyers.

Both Tom Girardi and his law firm Girardi Keese were placed into bankruptcy after Edelson PC, a Chicago-based plaintiffs firm, accused them of mishandling $2 million in settlement money that was supposed to go to victims of the Lion Air Flight 610 crash.

Girardi and his firm's assets were frozen by a Chicago federal judge in December. Soon after, a group of Girardi's former business partners and clients forced the attorney and his firm into involuntary bankruptcy, alleging they owed millions of dollars.

Girardi's attorneys have asserted since December that he is suffering from mental decline and incapable of addressing his mounting financial and legal concerns. Robert Girardi in a Jan. 13 filing said his brother was unable to understand what was happening to him and his firm.