Wealth Risks
Most of the business people invest everything in their business because they considered that their business is the best investment in terms of return. In some cases, the business may be the single most valuable asset the owner has. They reinvest the generated profit for the development of the business. Since all of the owner’s wealth is invested in the business, it becomes the sole source of income. If the business fails, or if the owner dies without proper income protection, his family could be left without any source of income. If the owner is the key person in the business, the problem is even bigger when the owner falls sick or becomes disabled. Mostly, the entire business depends on him, and the income could stop when work stops, while expenses and business costs may continue at full intensity. Moreover, all the assets and bank accounts will be frozen immediately on the death of a person.
How will your family and business survive without access to money?
Family Risks
It is the need and responsibility of the family to do the rituals to the remains of the deceased person. If a person dies in the UAE the body will be released to family only after clearing all the liabilities, both personal and business, in that person’s name. So it becomes the risk for the family to clear these liabilities. How does the family find out money to settle the liabilities? How does the family overcome the emotional implications if they were not able to release the body of the deceased soon?
Legal Risks
All the personal and business assets of a deceased ex-pat will be distributed as per the law of the land (Shari’ah Law) if the person is a Muslim. However, if he is not a Muslim and has created a Will as per the law of the country of the deceased, the assets will be distributed as stated in the Will. The guardianship of the minor children of the deceased is not automatically granted to the mother. The father-in-law gets automatic guardianship of the children. If the government is not able to contact the father’s side of the family, the children could end up in government care, not with the mother. His personal and business bank accounts may be frozen (within one hour) till such time as all the liabilities are cleared and the succession of the assets are declared by the court. In the absence of a registered will, the estate of the deceased is distributed according to as per Shari’ah law. This has huge implications for a business owner because his family may be left with no access to their bank accounts or assets sometimes for as long as 18 months till the courts decide on how to distribute the assets.