Q: My brother passed without a will in Tx his house 270000 his pension $$ his ex hired a lawyer we can't afford one
Her lawyer buried us in paper work now lawyers want 5k /10k retainer we are on fix income we are not showing up in court my mom has Alzheimer's I have a Dr letter for her I don't want to go to court with out a lawyer can not afford one not fair bottom line can I be held in content of court and for how long I will not spend the only $ we have too live on legal representation
A:
If your brother had children, his estate will pass to those children or their descendants. If not, your brother's estate will pass to his parents, which would include your mom if she was also his mom.
Your brother's ex cannot inherit anything from your brother's estate unless he left a will (which you say he didn't). With respect to your brother's pension, it would be common for your brother to have named a beneficiary. The beneficiary will receive the pension.
$5-10,000 is not unreasonable for a probate lawyer to begin the process of probating your brother's estate. But, if he had children, it may not be worthwhile for you to do so and you should reach out to his children or to whomever has custody or guardianship of his children if they are minors.
Unfortunately, if you personally have to get involved, you will have to go to court. But court in a probate case like this should not be intimidating. A competent probate lawyer can help you through the process.
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