Even though most government agencies are loaded with clock-watching bureaucrats, there are a few who genuinely care about the agency mission and are willing to provide guidance. You can sometimes find them by explaining your circumstances, and asking who is knowledgeable and can help answer some questions.
Get copies of contracts before signing anything, read them closely, and ask a lot of questions about business practices. Make sure than any promises or representations you want to rely on are clearly in writing in the contract.
Consult an experienced elder law attorney. You might find one by checking with local attorneys you know, bar certifications and advertising, and even reviewing law suit filings to find one or more who have represented plaintiffs against crooked estate liquidators.
The better course may be to go through your mother's possessions with a close eye as to what is worth keeping, what should be discarded, and what should be sold. My brother and I are doing that with my mother's possessions in the family home.
After a lifetime of hoarding by my mother, the task is formidable but sometimes worthwhile. Most things get thrown out or donated to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or St. Vincent De Paul's. Every now and then we find something useful enough to keep, like high quality sets of china or tableware, or caches of old family photos and letters.
The problem with my mother is that she kept literally EVERYTHING. From paperwork/receipts to gifts, greeting/holiday cards, to simple letters and notes. It was amazing what we found in her filing cabinet. It’s like a time capsule.