Dubai: A 42-year-old Indian widow, who has yet to recover from the untimely death of her husband early this year, has chosen to make her ordeal public in the hope that other expats don’t make the same mistakes.Former air hostess Sharmila Singh, based in Dubai, told XPRESS last week: “Death should not be a taboo subject. We must prepare for the worst – or else subject our families to what I went through.”
DUBAI/Expatriates in the UAE would be wise to understand the laws governing wills and inheritances, or they could end up facing a complex process as they navigate the aftermath of a spouse’s death, legal experts and estate planners say. Mohammad Marria, an estate planner at Just Wills, a company based in Dubai, said many people do not understand the legal implications of such cases. “Your will is the most important piece of paper you will ever sign,” he said. “It is your last wishes on how you would like your estate to be distributed, and it’s not just about money and property; it is also about safeguarding the welfare of children.
Matters of the afterlife are not a favourite topic for many people, except probably for those in the death care business. But it’s a serious issue that you should consider, especially if you are planning to invest or already have acquired assets in a foreign country.
Abu Dhabi/Dubai: Non-Muslims living in the UAE should make a will in case of death or undergo time-consuming procedures to ensure that the inheritance scheme is implemented according to their own country’s laws, experts said. Failure to do so may result in family disputes, according to a report by the Ministry of Interior’s monthly publication, 999 Magazine.
A person’s single and joint bank accounts will be automatically frozen upon death, leaving the family with no access to money. Having a bank account outside the jurisdiction of the UAE and home country means the family can withdraw money for survival and emergency expenses
In February 2016, the Personal Status Court of the Dubai Courts issued an order stating that should an individual shareholder of a Dubai-based firm pass away unexpectedly, the company’s bank accounts would be frozen, said Deepak Gurnani, Partner, JUST LEGAL Consultancy.
