help - need lawyer or ?? SW TX. Intestate property, relative died with no written will.

HELP!
A relative died relatively young and very unexpectedly with no written will. Their verbal statement on the phone I've been told even if phone records were retrieved that verbal doesn't stand up in court. The first lawyer wasted 4 months of my time and wouldn't even respond to the bar association, he is now getting a formal grievance. New lawyer interviewed (no paid work yet) says we are most likely not in the chart of inheritors. There are possibly people in Germany or EU who would be in line first, according to the legal heirship chart in TX. No one knows if they are still living, no contact in 50+ yrs and the heirfinder services for Germany are very expensive. What are my obligations to find those people? What happens if I can't afford to pay for the heirfinder service? No administrator has been designated yet, funds are tied up until one is designated. Expenses of their property and animals and legal fees are falling to me but I have zero access to insurance claim funds, claims are waiting to finish processing but are waiting for an estate administrator, I have no legal standing on the property until an Administrator is designated or the heir is found. We don't intend to abandon a family property. It was my uncle's and he paid it off. We want to keep the property in the family or use the funds. We are not willing to just let it go to the state. If we didn't pay the taxes it would go to a tax sale. Apparently state of TX wouldn't bother to try to find the foreign heirs? We will try to pay the taxes if we can, to retain it and not allow a bidder from the public to get it, but we need to be able to get legal title. I need to find out about adverse possession or ?? How much or any due diligence is necessary at our own expense to try to find the foreign possible heirs? They were completely estranged and cut off by the deceased, mutual hate, but they didn't make a written will so that is who is in the chain of legal inheritance. This death was unexpected and let it be a warning to everyone to please do a DETAILED written will with a LONG chain of SEVERAL inheritors listed. not just a few, because people can pass away and leave none mentioned still living, and make sure to file the will with the county. Those of you putting in sweat equity on family property etc you MUST protect yourself with wills legal documents etc. Anyone have any advice? or can you recommend a good lawyer in SW TX? bilingual in German a plus
- low income and going broke in the desert trying to save the family property

I will start this off by stating that I am not a lawyer but I am familiar with estates as my wife practices in New York.

A person passing without a will is considered to have died intestate and will have to go through probate in the state that he resided. The court will appoint an executor to oversee the estate of the deceased and establish who is entitled to inherited. I believe that is a timeframe for those heirs to step forward and inherited but that might vary from state to state. Unfortunately, you might not have much to stand on as you have said. You need to retain council who can look at your specific situation.

Two areas to research that might help you see where you might stand.

Research who has priority to petition as executor/administrator in Texas State law. Also research intestate succession rules specific to Texas. There is a chance that depending on how the family dynamic and who is reached out, there might be an avenue where a nephew could be appointed.

In addition to what Timothy has suggested, one reason the lawyer might have taken so long is that letters are written to the heirs and public notices are placed in newspaper to contact them.

The law gives a certain period time for these notices to be responded to.

In general, the closest relatives of the deceased are given the first priority, A spouse or children are usually first. If no surviving children or spouse, the estate will pass to the deceased's parents, and then to their siblings.

Has an Heirship application been filed with the court?  If there are unknown heirs, the court may post notices in newspapers or at the courthouse as I mentioned earlier.

another possibility-- is there a local university/law school that would offer a legal aid clinic?

Mk James wrote:Expenses of their property and animals and legal fees are falling to me...
I have no legal standing on the property

I'm curious how both of those statements can be true.

When my grandmother died (not in Texas) and there was some question about how the estate would be processed, the legal advice I received (from the attorney who drew up her will and also a paralegal friend) was essentially to take everything I could seize. I emptied her bank account and physically moved what few of her possessions I wanted to own into space I controlled. In our case it was only a few days to work things out and then there wasn't any ill-will, but you might want to consider options in that direction.

That advise to take everything you can get might possibly come back to haunt a person if the estate goes to probate court.

Even if a person is a signer on a bank account does not give them the right to own that money.

Sounds like a win/lose situation that could be open to possible causing that person to being sued by the legal heirs.

This page from the Texas State Law Library might offers suggestion for free or low cost legal services for folks that can qualify:

https://guides.sll.texas.gov/legal-help

Mk James wrote:
Expenses of their property and animals and legal fees are falling to me...
I have no legal standing on the property

Keep a log of the amount of your time that is being spent on the property.  When the estate goes into probate you can bill the estate for your time.

Also if you are spending money for things like feed for animals you can bill for that also so keep good records.