Do you need a lawyer for probate?

You don’t need a lawyer to do anything. You can represent yourself in any matter as long as you are mentally competent.

With all due respect, you cannot even figure out how to get the process started without going to a message board. That would tell me I am not able to do it without any attorney. You have to do more than simply fill out a form to give it to your mom. You have to notify creditors and potential heirs. There are time delays for them to respond. If you don’t know of creditors you have to show the court you made an effort to notify potential creditors. There are time delays and requirements for that. None of this is complicated for someone to do, it’s just whether your time is worth figuring it out versus paying a lawyer. It does not sound like the court is going to help you do it and a judge is just going to make sure it’s done right regardless of whether a lawyer does it or not.

Article on LA Succesion
I assume you are in Louisiana.

For a will this simple, you can easily do this without a lawyer. Depending on the assets that Mom is getting, you may not need to open a succession at all. You certainly don’t need to pay a lawyer a few thousand for this - and I am a lawyer.

I generally answer this question this way.....technically, you do not need a surgeon to remove your appendix - - I just would not advise it.

Sorry for your loss. Plenty of decent-human attorneys will handle simple probate for a reasonable cost. It is worth the peace of mind for you & mom not to DIY this matter, and to use the assistance of an attorney. This is a situation where you can truly be penny wise and pound foolish. Talk to your friends & relatives about who is trustworthy in your area, and get a couple of quotes.

I can think of a couple of attorneys (who usually practice in other areas of the law) who handled their own family successions & made expensive errors. Grief can easily cloud your objective thinking, and it is worth a few bucks to have things handled by a third party.

If it's truly that straight forward, it won't cost you all that much in attorney fees. Either way, you're going to pay filing fees. I wouldn't imagine more than 10-15 billable hours, but that's strictly a semi-educated guess on my part. 4-5 instruments filed (Application, LWT, Inventory, Judgment of Possession). As much as I'd want to do it myself, too, I'd probably pay the attorney for peace of mind.