Howard, GA Estate Planning Law Firms & Lawyers

If your mother named you as the POD beneficiary on an account, that account belongs to you, and it does not become part of your mother's probate estate. It DOES become part of her estate for estate tax purposes, so if your mother's estate was large enough that an estate tax return is required, or if she was married and the Executor wants to allow her surviving spouse to use her remaining estate tax exemption and so an estate tax return is needed, then the Executor would need information about what was held in any such account at the date of your mother's death. But the Executor is not entitled to the funds. They're yours.

You cannot cash it until you open the account.  Nor can you legally sell the house until a court appoints you executor (if there is a Will) or administrator (if not).  Contact a local probate attorney.

You will have to check the intestacy laws of the state your father resided in at the time of his death. In some cases, the estate is split between the surviving spouse and the children of the deceased.