Money and legal issues after a husband dies

Question: I am an expatriate living in the UAE and have recently been suddenly widowed and left to pick up the pieces of my family's finances. My husband left money and assets in his will to me and a trust fund for our one young daughter, but I am worried that I may need to move from part-time to full-time work to ensure our future financial security — please advise.

Answer: Losing a close member of your family can be a very distressing time for people, not only emotionally but financially too.

You say your husband left money in his will to provide for you and your daughter, however, you are unsure as to how long this will be sufficient to live on.

The first thing you need to do is to have your husband's will assessed by a qualified lawyer to determine exactly what has been left to you from your husband's estate in terms of cash, investments and assets.

As an expatriate, your husband's estate is already complicated by the fact that three sets of laws may apply to his estate: his home country law, the law in which his assets are located and private international law.

However, with specialist legal help you will be able to determine the value of these assets and how you are legally allowed to use or dispose of them.

At the same time, an independent financial adviser can assist you in working out how best to plan for you and your daughter's future financial security.

If your husband had life insurance then your immediate financial worries should be taken care of. Such a policy should at least give you a lump sum of cash to live on and if the policy included ‘family income benefit' then you will also receive a regular monthly income for a selected period of years after his death.

Financial protection

However, it is important to be aware that on the death of a spouse in the Emirates, joint bank accounts can be temporarily frozen under UAE law until the will has been read.

Your husband's death may also mean that you and your daughter have lost the extra financial protection that came with his job, such as health insurance, critical illness cover, and payment of your daughter's school fees.

If this is the case then you will need to take out new policies to cover these areas, which could include an investment policy specifically designed to provide for your daughter's university education.

However, taking on a full-time job may avoid the necessity of taking out these policies yourself as some employers provide them for you.

This is not guaranteed, however, and is something you will need to discuss as part of your full-time employment package.

The cost of accommodation is also sometimes included in expatriate employment contracts, although this is becoming less common than it used to be.

You also mention a trust fund your late husband set up for your daughter, of which I am presuming you are the legal guardian.

The way this works is that you are the legal owner of assets in the trust for your daughter until she is old enough, usually 18, to be responsible for them herself.

As legal trustee you have a legal obligation to put the interest of your daughter above your own interests at all times when managing he trust.

However, in this vein monies from this fund may be used to help pay for your daughter's current and future health and education.

The key advice at this most distressing of times is to seek specialist and financial and legal advice.

The writer is a Solicitor and Senior Estate Planning Consultant with Nexus Insurance Brokers L.L.C. Opinion expressed here are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the view of Gulf News. If you have any question, please email to advice@gulfnews.com