Texas Probate-heir Not Signing Affidavit

Location: Fort Worth, Texas

My father passed away last year without a will. We started the probate process a month after he passed. First of all, we hired an attorney in October and they didn’t even file with the court until February. In March, they sent us affidavits to sign stating we agree my mother would be the executor of the estate. I have a half-brother and half-sister from a previous marriage of my father’s. Herein lies the problem. We’ve been waiting since March for my half-sister to sign the form. I reached out to her through Facebook and she kept saying she would send it. I asked the attorney in April what our options were if she refused to sign, and at the time they said we could ask the court for permission to do a public notice after attempting to serve her, but that we’d have to show proof that we tried all options first. I searched online for any information I could find for them to do the skip trace and was under the impression that they were going to serve her, but it turns out all they did was send a certified letter, which was received this month.

Now we’re back to square one as they told me we can’t proceed without the affidavit and the court “might” allow a public notice but that she’d have to be served first, and we’d have to get a motion and hearing to do so.

Is that really it? Are there no other options other than wait and hope she sends the form? Is there anything we can personally file with the court to move forward?

I only met this woman in person at the funeral. The only thing my father left was credit card and tax debt and less than 1k in a checking account, so there really is no reason to fight over the estate. My mother is on the mortgage and car titles, thankfully, but she cannot access the checking account to close it without the probate.

Sorry for the long post, I’m just frustrated with the whole probate process on top of losing my father and sister in the same year.