My mother died last August, only found out last week of her death! Her carer registered her death and put her name on the death certificate as her daughter! I have contacted the registry office who are now investigating the matter. She had my mother cremated without the family knowing and cleaned out her bank accounts and policies. I would like to know how can we get my mum's ashes?
How often did the family visit Mom... did the caregiver even know there was a family? If the caregiver had no information, and if your Mom didn't mention children and/or relatives, maybe the caregiver thought Mom had no one.
How long was the caregiver with your Mom? It could be a case where if no one from the family was visiting or calling, that your Mom changed her Will to give everything to this caregiver. Just a thought.
As for the ashes, some people request that when they die that their ashes be scattered at a favorite place of theirs. Or the urn could be buried in a cemetery and depending on your area, usually it takes a court order to have the grave opened up.