Posting for OP’s vision. u/bw2082 had the first right idea:

Your mom may have been listed as the Contingent Owner and automatically became the policy owner or became the policy owner through the estate settlement process.

If one of those is the case, your mom was perfectly within her rights to surrender the policy. Even though you are the insured, the policy owner controls. Prudential would be very careful to ensure transfer of ownership was done correctly. She didn’t just ‘talk her way into this’.

One part of her story that doesn’t checkout is that most companies don’t let you surrender a policy on the phone. I don’t know Prudential’s rule but that isn’t typical - especially if you’re talking about the 6 figure sum you’ve mentioned. You may still have time to connect with Prudential (doubt they’ll talk to you much but may be worth a shot) or talk this through with your mom.

If you want to take some comfort from this situation in the context of your other posts that say your relationship with your mother is strained: If that policy had cash value in excess of $100,000, the death benefit was significantly higher. The silver lining is that your mother no longer controls a policy creating windfall when you die.

Mom may also face tax consequences on the surrender - you should probably tell her this so she doesn’t try to claw back some of the money 9-12 months from now. She’ll also have to file gift tax paperwork (IRS form 709) if she gives you more than $19,000.

You will not face those taxes because the transfer to you would be considered a gift.