Nazma Khanib, a 69-year-old married woman, was discovered by officers in September.
An inquest into her death was opened at East London Coroner’s Court, Walthamstow, on Wednesday (March 12).
Coroner Nadia Persaud was told neighbours in Strone Road, Forest Gate, made a “welfare call” to the London Ambulance Service on September 21.
Paramedics called police, who forced entry to the home and discovered her body.
She was “on a sofa in a state of decomposition”, the court heard.
Police declared her death “non-suspicious” and reported it to the coroner’s service.
A post-mortem examination at East London Forensic Centre failed to determine how her death had been caused.
At present, a pathologist has given her cause of death as “unascertained”.
Mrs Persaud said she would open and adjourn an inquest for further investigations to take place.
Inquests are held in the public interest to investigate unnatural and unexplained deaths, and to determine whether future similar deaths might be avoidable.
The coroner made Mrs Khanib’s family “interested persons” – a legal status entitling them to scrutinise evidence before the inquest and question any witnesses called to testify.
“From the family I would like some general background information telling me about Mrs Khanib – telling me about her family structure, her occupation if she was working, her hobbies, her health – physical and mental health,” she said.
“Did the family have any concerns surrounding her death? I would like details of those.”
A coroner’s officer described Mrs Khanib during the hearing as “a care worker”, born in 1955 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The coroner ordered disclosure of evidence from state agencies.
She said the London Ambulance Service would have to disclose all its records and she wanted statements from any police officers who attended the incident, plus the senior officer who deemed the circumstances of Mrs Khanib’s death non-suspicious.
She provisionally listed the final inquest for August 18.
