financial mistakes my Mother made

My mom was a whiz at handling money.  She didn't begin working until after her children graduated high school and she worked low paying retail jobs so she didn't maker much money.  My father worked good paying jobs until we graduated high school   That was when he decided to go into the ministry full time so he took a big hit financially.  Still, their income was high enough to pay all their bills and still put money back for that rainy day.
   Mom paid every bill the day it arrived, purchased everything on a cash bases, and never borrowed anything.  She had enough put back to handle about anything and still leave her children a nice inheritance, or so she thought.
   Her first big mistake was not properly executing her will when Dad passed away in November 1998.  The will stated that if Mom went first then Dad received everything but if Dad died first, then
the house was to be deeded equally to the children.  Mom didn't follow the instructions in the will.
Mom liked to be in control and I believe she was afraid that we might take advantage of her if she executed the will as written.  For whatever reason she didn't do what she was supposed to do. ,
  Fast forward seventeen years and Mom is now blind and deaf and to weak to take care of herself anymore.  The only decision  that one could make for her was a nursing home.  Still, she was strong enough that she would live several more years and she didn't have enough money to pay nursing homer cost for more than one.  All her assets would have to be liquidated except for $2,000. and prepaid funeral expenses.
  All that money she had frugally saved was now gone and there was none to give to her children.  .
She had neglected to take care of necessary repairs to her home so the value of it was greatly diminished.
  $2,000.00 will only pay so many bills and even a vacant house has property taxes, insurance, and utilities.  The money was stretched as far as it would go but ran out in June.  I do believe that having to get rid of everything in the house broke Moms will to live.,  She died in December, 2 years after going into the nursing home.  The condition of the house had deteriorated to the point that the house wasn't worth much because it would cost so much to make it a viable, marketable house.
   Mom should have executed the will so the children would have at least had the house.  Instead of trying to save more and more in her retirement years, she should have taken some of her money and kept her home repaired and updated.  Had she done that, she would not have changed her lot in life one bit but would have lived in a nicer home, and would have left a house worth something to her children.  Instead all they ended up with is years of caring for her and a lot of work settling her estate after she was gone.