How Do I Find Out What Happened To My Dad And His Estate?

My location: Maine

Father's residence: Texas

My estranged father died last year, age 72. My brother, who also lives in TX, called to notify me of the death, and I later obtained a death certificate from the county. When I asked about the circumstances of his death, my brother would not give me any information about it. When I asked about his estate and will, my brother became very angry and accused me of just wanting my dad's money. I stated that this was not the case, and that I was pretty sure he wouldn't leave me anything anyway. When last I saw him, in 2019, he owned a house and a new car and had a well-paying job as a software engineer. He saved money his entire life and had multiple investment accounts.

My parents were married for thirty years, but divorced twenty years ago, and a portion of the estate went to my mom at that time, but my dad continued to work and make excellent money until at least 2019. She lives near me and has little contact with my brother due to his wishes. She has been checking unclaimed property in TX and noticed many large amounts of money popping up there with my dad's name and address attached, so she called my brother to ask about these. He told her that my dad died penniless and that there was no will. He also stated that he was the executor of the estate. My dad's house in now in my brother's name per county tax records, and last years taxes have not been paid.

Per my mom, no one notified Social Security about my dad's death until she called them, at which time her SS increased. She also called Raytheon, because she receives a portion of his pension from there due to the divorce. They stated that no one notified them either. She's also gotten mail from Charles Schwab trying to reach my father regarding his investment account and called them to verify that this is legit. They said that they've been sending dividend checks to his house which have been deposited since he died and that no one notified them of his death. She also received an unpaid bill from a SNF.

On the death certificate, my father's address is listed as my brother's rented house, where my father never lived. My brother will not answer any of my questions about this or anything else regarding the circumstances of his death or the estate. He just gets angry and hangs up the phone. It seems like at best my brother is doing a bad job as executor, and at worse some kind of fraud is going on. I did call the counties around him and they have no will on file. The acute care facility where my brother states he died will not answer my phone calls.

Do I have any legal means to find out how he died or force my brother to produce a will? Unfortunately I don't have the means to fly to TX at this time. I would also like to claim the unclaimed property and split it between myself and my siblings. My brother threatened me not to get a probate lawyer (not that I could afford to) but is that my only option here?