Isn't that what the title *search* is for? I would never question the necessity for a title search. It is only the insurance that I have doubts about, especially if the title search has come up clean. (If the title search did not come up clean, I would not buy the property.)
In any case, I am sure my mother will heed her attorney's advice and get the insurance. But if it were me and I knew I were not going to be hanging onto the property for very long, I would honestly be tempted to skip it.
Because even the best search / abstract can have errors in it. A
good forgery on a deed for example, might be missed - heck, I spotted and flagged one or two quit claim deeds that "just didn't look right" in my years in the business, but they were pretty blatant (and if the very vague memory serves, the company declined to insure in at least one case). A classic case is where a squatter / ID theif takes over the home of an Ex Pat type and "sells" it after a little while and does a good forgery on the deed. Ex Pat comes home after being overseas for years and finds a strange family in their home - pissing contest ensues and new family is told tough cookies, you were scammed....but they're paid off in full by the title company. That's why you actually buy the policy.
So what's the custom in NY? Again, here in Washington, the seller pays for the new owners title policy as an inducement / proof to the buyer that the title is clean, so were the transaction happening here, it wouldn't cost your mom a dime.
Oh, another reason to get the policy by the way: Even if you're not holding onto the property for long, the typical instrument used to transfer property (again, here in Washington, NY and other states may vary) is a "Statutory Warranty Deed". That's where the seller
warrants the title to the property to the purchaser. Even if you hold the property for only a day, then sell it off, you're warranting that title, and everything that came before it. Now, if there was a problem in the title before you owned the property for said day, the new owner (the one you sold to, or the one
they sold to, or the one
they sold to, etc) is going to sue
everyone they can find in the chain of title. With the policy, it's up to the Title Company to defend your position, not you.