A question regarding probate.

If the insurance checks are payable to your son's estate and not to you directly, I am you may need to hire a lawyer.  If the total is under $75,000 and IF you can get a bank to accept a judge's Order approving an Application of Small Estate, you could try to file the Application and proposed Order yourself but over half of those are rejected, probably because the details required are not obvious.  You would be wise to get a probate lawyer to help you get it right the first time:  the court clerks cannot tell you how to correct any mistakes you may have made.  If the total is more, in almost every Texas county you must hire a probate lawyer to help you file an Application to Determine Heirship.  Once the judge issues an Order appointing you Administrator of your son's estate, you can open a bank account for the estate and desposit the checks.  After any bills are paid, you can write a check for what remains to you as your son's heir. This sounds like a situation in which many attorneys would be willing to front the costs and take court filing fees and attorneys' fees out of the estate.  

Your question: "Is there a way to do the probate case without hiring a lawyer?"    Answer: No, you must hire an attorney. If it was you that had the claim, you could represent yourself and your own interest. But, because you are, essentially, protecting or pursuing the interest of or a claim of an Estate (the Estate of your deceased son), then you are "representing" an Estate, which is - in the eyes of the law - someone other than you. You cannot represent someone other than yourself in a court of law without a law license. So, attempting to represent your son's Estate would be considered the unauthorized practice of law. You need to hire an attorney. Kevin Spencer