Fran, I am so sorry this happened to you. It is totally unfair, but what can you do if you have nothing in writing? I can relate because my wife and I had cared for my mother for years. Firstly, when my grandmother died she left her house to my mother who let us live there. She said if we paid to renovate the house we could live their rent free, so we installed a new hot water system, stove, renovated the bathroom, had windows replaced, painted the interior etc. My wife even used her superannuation to pay for most of it. Then she said if she died my wife and I could have the house.

Well, she died three months later, without telling anyone else or having any paperwork to prove the agreement, my siblings immediately said we have to sell the properties and you have to move out. We could have argued and said well give us this one as part of the inheritance and we will pay any excess if necessary….but there had already been enough friction, so we just let them sell it and moved out. We have rarely spoken to my brother and sister since.