How is inheritance (indemnity & bank accounts) dealt with under Kuwait Law, if a non-Muslim expatriate worker dies in Kuwait without a written will? Alternately, how to ensure that the assets of a non-Muslim expatriate worker are given to his family in case of his death in Kuwait?

Name withheld 
Answer: It becomes a little difficult to claim both the indemnity and bank accounts if an expatriate, both Muslim and non-Muslim, dies in Kuwait without a will. But the legal system makes things easier for the claimants if you know “your way around”.

First let’s deal with the easier part — claiming the indemnity. All you need is a letter from your country’s courts which clearly indicates who will inherit the dead expatriate’s assets. Once you have this judgement from the court, you have to get it attested from the Foreign Ministry in your country and then your embassy in Kuwait.

On production of these papers, the company will pay the indemnity to person who has been named the “inheritor” in the court papers or to the person who is carrying a “power of attorney” from the heirs of the expatriate. But getting the money from the dead expatriate’s accounts is a different matter because all the bank accounts will be frozen on the expatriate’s death and the money can’t be transferred to any other account unless a Kuwait court authorizes such a transfer.

To avoid this hassle, we have seen people withdrawing the money through the ATMs without informing the bank about the expatriate’s death. This is wrong and could result in legal complications for all those involved.

So, armed with a decision from the court in your country, you have to approach a Kuwait court to retrieve the funds in the frozen bank accounts. Here you could run into complications but if you have a lawyer to guide you there won’t be any problems.

First of all, the inheritors have to ask the court to address the issue according to the inheritance law of their own country and not that of Kuwait.

Because if you don’t make this clear, the dead expatriate’s assets will be distributed according to the Islamic Sharia (law).This could result in a lot of difficulties because there would be multiple heirs — mother, wife, sons, daughters — in such an event.

Once the court confirms that the inheritance papers are okay and that there are no other heirs, it will order the funds be released to the “inheritor” or to the person who has been a proper power of attorney by the “inheritor “ to follow the case. Please remember that you will be also required to clear all the dues of the deceased before the funds are released to you.

Source - ArabTimes
Note - All the answers were provided by Arab Times Legal Clinic.

I would like to ask you about my driving license.I got my driving license in January 2015 and I came Read More... to the country on a driver’s visa. After some time I got a job in a multinational company. They changed my job status on my residence to “distributor”. My license will expire in 2 months.My question is this: Can I renew my license?Name withheldAnswer: No, you will not be able to renew your driving license. The reason is simple. About two years ago, the Ministry of Interior issued a decision that expatriates who obtained driving licenses when their job status on their work permits was “driver” would have their licenses cancelled or would not be able to renew them if their status on the work permits changed. “Drivers” was one of the four categories which came under the hammer.The others being students, housewives and mandoubs (company representatives).So, if expatriates from any of these four categories has obtained a driving license because these categories were mentioned on their work permits, they stand to lose their licenses once these categories are changed.Source - Arab TimesNote - All the answers were provided by Arab Times Legal Clinic .

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I have been working in a private construction company for last 12 years, came directly from India on Read More... a project visa. Now I got a good opportunity and the company has already given me the transfer letter.But the new company is unable to transfer the visa, as the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor has rejected the transfer letter which was submitted about 2 weeks ago.This was my first transfer from project to project visa under another contractor. I am very much worried and… is it possible to transfer my residence locally.Name withheld Answer: Because of the current very strict restrictions — imposed in January this year — on the transfer of government project visas you can currently only transfer to another government project and not to the private sector.As the government is not, at the moment, keen on relaxing the rules, the only option you have is to cancel your current residence, leave the country and return on a new visa. So try to find another company which has a government project and transfer to that firm.Source - Arab TimesNote - All the answers were provided by Arab Times Legal Clinic.

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