It was my lawyer who already did the estate (It was finished in early November) under Wyoming's small estate wavier, which does not require formal probate.
Probate or not, the money is not yours until the property is transferred to your name. Any expenses incurred before it's in your name are "NOT" deductible by you on your tax return. The property will "not" be reported on SCH E on "your" tax return.
If the house did not go to the estate, then there's no way you can say you filed a "final" 1040 tax return for your mother. As it stands now (the way I see it) you'll also be filing a 2021 tax return for your mother.
Now understand that I am not a lawyer and make no claims to "knowing the law". But based on my experience with rentals (30 plus years) this is how I see it. I would be interested what the new lawyer says about my comments, once you find and hire one you can trust to some degree. All this crap about COVID being the reason it's taking so long is an absolute bunch of crap...... and I don't have to be a lawyer to know that's a fact.
