Thanks for your replies. I lived apart from my mum for many years and have my own family/mortgage etc; so have no ties to her past life really. Not sure why the council are after me for the arrears Thanks, Bazooka, for that info. Never heard of Headway before. Might give it a look at

I was stunned to receive a rather distressing letter a few months ago from the Housing Dept at Croydon Council(my Mum was a council tenant and had mental health issues). Apparantly she left her rent account in arrears to the tune of £2,500. She had been living a reclusive life and had no contact with family, friends or anyone for many years and had simply 'opted out' of life in general. She died in January of this year, in poverty and now the Housing people are saying I have '7 days to get in touch with them' regarding her debt!!!! She had a few hundred pounds left in her bank account but nothing like that amount. Anyway, does anyone out there have any advice for me on how to handle this? I recently had a stroke and really do not feel up to a fight at the moment. Am I legally responsible for her debt? Any help would be very much appreciated.