Hello your mum:
Do to numerous experiences I'm certain that the afterlife exits. It can be a wonderful or bad thing according to what you make of it. I'm not talking about the fire and brimstone thing. Rather, when you cross over you'll go to a realm that matches your state of mind and heart. If you try to be the best person you can and grow in love, you should be fine.
If you doubt what I say, that's natural and healthy. All I can say is that I have no reason to lie to you. I'm not selling anything.
With the selling factor in mind, I've found it's good to read about near death experiences, because the factor of somebody trying to sell you something becomes less likely. Here are some nice near death experiences if you're interested.
The fact of how you're asking questions is significant. Don't rely on you're intellect too much, because you'll never figure it out that way. Perhaps you'll form a belief system that is somewhat accurate, but a belief system is quite a different thing than direct knowledge.
On the first link below, look under "Notable NDEs." Sometimes experiences get tainted by a person's preconceived ideas. The less they cling to ideas while having a NDE, the more likely they'll be to see things as they are. It's generally a good sign when they're met by a being of light.
http://www.near-death.com/index.htmlhttp://www.near-death.com/experiences/reincarnation03.html