will an estate attorney notify an heir of their rights?

Your deceased father's estate attorney does not have to give you notice of anything.  Probate jurisdiction in Texas is "in rem," meaning jurisdiction is over the property, not any particular person.  So, the only notice that gets issued is a Citation notice posted on the courthouse bulletin board; few people, if any, interested in an estate actually get notice by its posting.   You are also held to have constructive notice of the entire probate file, so any argument or excuse that you did not know about the probate filing will not work and will not help you.  As a result, you have a duty to check with the probate/county clerk in the county where your father was domiciled when he died.  You cannot blame your failure to search for or find out about the probate on your father's estate attorney or anyone else.  It is a situation where you have the duty to find the probate, not someone else having a duty to tell you about it. That being said, if the Will has not been filed for probate, then you, as an interested person in your father's Estate, have the right to send written demand to your father's attorney to deliver the original will to you, so you can file it for probate.  If he refuses to turn the will over to you after demand, you can file a motion to show cause against the attorney (or whomever has the original will) requiring him to appear in court and explain why he will not deliver the original to you; you can request that your attorneys' fees for being forced to file the motion.   I hope this answers your question(s). Sincerely, Kevin Spencer www.spencerlawpc.com