Protection
Life & Critical Illness cover is an essential and often overlooked aspect of financial planning. Are your family provided for in the case of an emergency?
What is life insurance?
Life insurance provides a financial pay out to your loved ones should you die during the policy term. So if you take out life insurance and pass away before the policy ends then a claim can be made.
What is critical illness cover?
Critical illness cover is an insurance policy that provides a lump sum payment if you are diagnosed with one of the specified life-altering illnesses, such as heart attacks, stroke, or cancer.
Whilst your medical insurance policy may cover some or all of your hospital bills, it won’t cover your living costs and loss of income whilst you recuperate.
There are also joint policies which cover both life insurance and critical illness and pay out on on whichever event occurs first.
Why do you need it?
Although most people have insurance to cover the cost of their home or car, worryingly many people don’t have life insurance or critical illness cover.
Whether you are the primary income earner, a stay at home parent, or a single person, insurance is essential. It ensures you or your family can still pay for everyday essential items such as housing, schooling, groceries, health care or even funeral expenses.
ICE Planning – Guardianship
What is ICE Planning?
Put simply, under the law in the UAE a child’s father is always the ‘guardian‘ and the mother is the ‘custodian’. This system works beautifully for locals however may potentially not be in line with your wishes as an expat.
Custody does not grant the mother legal rights to control any monies or assets in the children’s names, and she may also needs to obtain consent from the guardian before travelling with the children alone.
What happens in an emergency?
In the event of the father passing away but the mother surviving, Shari’ah Law states that guardianship of the child will be passed to the paternal grandfather, or next living male relative.
Should both parents die the default position of guardianship is dictated under Shari’ah Law.
What should you do?
As an expat, whilst you may hope this never happens, it is something you should plan for. There are legal routes to put your wishes into a will or a legalised guardianship document through Dubai courts or DIFC.
However as a starting point we always recommend that you have put a letter of wishes in place in the form of an ‘In Case of Emergency‘ plan.
Finsbury Associates offer a free service to help you draft this document and one of our advisors can guide you through the process. Simply fill in the ICE Plan Document Form and someone will get in touch.
Further Resources
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[5-min read] Securing Your Family’s Future: How Critical Illness Insurance Can Be a Lifeline in the UAE
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[3-min read] Is a Jumbo Life Insurance Policy the Right Choice For Your Portfolio?
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