No will and need help

What is the name of your state? Texas

My father passed away and we cannot find a will. I am the only living heir and he has more debt than assets. My question is I would have to probate because he has more debt than assets and then a judge would determine which creditor got paid what. I will not see any of this money due to this reason so what would be the point in paying an attorney $2000 of my money just to pay of my Dad's bad debt? What happens if nothing is done? I know legally I am not liable for my Dad's debt, but I am receiving his mail now because there was no one else to do it. What happens if I leave the bank account alone since that is all he has? He owes so much to people and I don't know if I get penalized for not probating this.

A few thoughts -

If you do nothing, a creditor will eventually open up probate and the bank account (and anything else) will be divided amongst the creditors. Until then, however, you will get letters, phone calls, etc. harrassing you for the debt. Of course, you will have no obligation to them, but you should know that you may get harrassed nonetheless, which is never any fun.

If you open up probate, the attorney gets paid from the estate, not from you. In fact, with a few exceptions (like funeral costs), the attorney gets paid first. Thus, you might want to consider opening up probate just to get it all over with, if there is enough money in the account to pay the lawyer. That will give you an answer to the creditors (e.g., go file a claim in probate) when the calls come.

SO even though my attorney is requesting the money up front which means I have to pay it, the judge will give me that money back out of the estate once it is open?

Yes. And if you do most of the work rather than letting the attorney do it all, the court may allow you compensation before creditor claims are paid.

§ 320. ORDER OF PAYMENT OF CLAIMS AND ALLOWANCES.
(a) Priority of Payments. Personal representatives, when they have
funds in their hands belonging to the estate, shall pay in the
following order:
(1) Funeral expenses and expenses of last sickness, in an
amount not to exceed Fifteen Thousand Dollars.
(2) Allowances made to the surviving spouse and children, or
to either.
(3) Expenses of administration and the expenses incurred in
the preservation, safekeeping, and management of the estate.
(4) Other claims against the estate in the order of their
classification.

Click to expand...

If you are up to some heavy reading, the Texas probate code is here:
http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/pb.toc.htm

Thank you. I will take care of this once my baby is born and I can travel again.