Dead expensive

Every day four people die in Dubai and according to statistics three out of the four will be expatriates.

It's a grim fact that is the usually the last thing on the minds of Dubai's young expatriate population.
But as Vivian Albertyn, founder of the Middle East Funeral Services warns, the costs that a family can incur if a relative dies on the other side of the world can run into thousands of dollars.

Albertyn set up the UAE's first funeral service for expatriates last year and as part of the service, guides expatriate families through the minefield of costs and bureaucracy usually associated with flying their loved ones back home.

"It's not an easy process and without the right guidance you can find yourself tangled in masses of red tape," he says.

"The costs of flying a body home are not cheap and few people are actually aware of the prices involved.

"It's such a taboo subject that most people don't want to talk about it and will avoid it until it's too late." Avoiding the subject can however leave families with expensive costs to pay in the event that a relative dies - particularly if the deceased has neglected to set up a will or life insurance.

Legal experts say the process of distributing the contents of a person's estate through the courts can take several months, or even years, if the deceased has not made a will.

And those that do not set up life insurance to cover debts or provide their spouse with a lump sum or income in the event of their demise create a legacy of financial problems.

In this feature we reveal the cost of death in Dubai - and what you can do to prepare for the event, from making a will to setting up life insurance.

Funeral arrangements

Albertyn admits his job is not something he finds easy to talk about at dinner parties.

But he is keen to raise awareness among the expatriate population of what happens if they die in Dubai - an awareness he says is lacking at present.

"Families whose loved ones die in Dubai are often completely unprepared for the process of trying to organise an embalming and the logistics of flying their loved ones home.

"To make matters worse they often struggle to find the Ministry buildings they need to sort out the administrative issues and then face a language barrier once inside," he says.

Once an expatriate dies in the UAE a long and complex paper trail begins.

Families are required to obtain numerous No Objection Certificates (NOC)s from government officials, in order to prove that the deceased had no pending civil or legal actions and that all financial obligations had been settled.

These must be obtained from the deceased's sponsor, the Dubai Police, Immigration Department, the Labour Department, the relevant embassy and the Dubai Municipality.

The first step on the paper trail is to obtain a death certificate - the document required before you can send a body home or arrange a local burial.

Relatives must first visit the local police station with a copy of the notification of death from the hospital where the person died and then give a statement to the police which will be turned into a report.

Once the report has been made the police will arrange for an ambulance to transport the body from the hospital where the person died, if they died in hospital, to the mortuary at the Rashid Hospital.

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