Legal advice needed

You can directly contact with the ministry of labor & law

ahmed-ndis wrote:

Are you a lawyer ?

Why would some one contact you. You need to give a lot more information first other than you simple one line post.

I would suggest to the OP that until you have more information please do not contact anyone offering services. You need to be able to verify the authenticity of the person offering services.

Yolande-SA wrote:

Good afternoon
My husband and myself lived in Jeddah for just over 3 years. in April this year he passed away ( in Jeddah)
I am now having endless problems getting his money in SABB and and his end of service benifits from his company.
They are not responding to any emails.
We are South African, and I have spoken to our Embassy, but they can not get involved in monetary issues.
Can anybody suggest a Law firm in Jeddah we can use to try and resolve this.
the Estate in South Africa can not be finalized until all moneys from Saudi has been transferred.
TIA

First of sorry for your loss.

Having your prime dependent pass away in Saudi is a big mess very few people understand. There is no proper system / process in place with banks / companies/ authority that allows smooth financial transaction. Companies often take care of repatriation while settlement and other legal issues are still a pain . Here is what I know on this issue.

If your husband passed away in KSA while you were on dependent iqama : You need to get a death certificate from the proper authority (municipality / civil affairs / hospital) which states cause of death and then submit it to company along with your husbands original iqama and your iqama copy details and bank account details so that they can transfer his settlement to your account. This will enable the company to cancel your husband's iqama and give you the settlement and release you from KSA.  Normally companies will transfer the settlement only to your husbands account, but you may request them to transfer it to yours.

The bank also would need the same details (copy of death certificate/ iqama copies) and in addition and letter from your bank in your home country , stating the account details to transfer money left in your husbands account to the corresponding bank. This letter from bank should be attested from Saudi Embassy in your home country.

The same situation will be extremely difficult if you do not have an iqama or if you were not a dependent here. In this case you will first need to prove from your home country that you are his legally accepted heir and dependent and that he does not have any other dependents in addition to the above letters. And note all of these letters have to be attested by Saudi Embassy.

God forbid if the cause of death was abnormal in any case, the situation gets even more complicated locally and internationally. If the death was abnormal locally (within KSA) then you will need a letter from police that there are no legal claims / absolving you and any other and the same has to be secured from your home country if death happened there.

A lot of expatriates are not aware of these complications and we simply go about our life as if nothing is going to happen. My advise to all expats is to approach your bank and give a standing instruction to transfer all money left in your KSA bank in the event of your death to a designated bank / account / person.  This will ease the burden on your dependents who will have to struggle in the event something happens.

I can only hope and pray that you find the strength to go through this and wish you find a quick resolve in this.

Yolande-SA wrote:

Good afternoon
My husband and myself lived in Jeddah for just over 3 years. in April this year he passed away ( in Jeddah)
I am now having endless problems getting his money in SABB and and his end of service benifits from his company.
They are not responding to any emails.
We are South African, and I have spoken to our Embassy, but they can not get involved in monetary issues.
Can anybody suggest a Law firm in Jeddah we can use to try and resolve this.
the Estate in South Africa can not be finalized until all moneys from Saudi has been transferred.
TIA

Use their Twitter handle...KSA twitter is pretty well used and hence there would be some response as they can't risk reputation on the line...

Yolande-SA wrote:

Good afternoon
My husband and myself lived in Jeddah for just over 3 years. in April this year he passed away ( in Jeddah)
I am now having endless problems getting his money in SABB and and his end of service benifits from his company.
They are not responding to any emails.
We are South African, and I have spoken to our Embassy, but they can not get involved in monetary issues.
Can anybody suggest a Law firm in Jeddah we can use to try and resolve this.
the Estate in South Africa can not be finalized until all moneys from Saudi has been transferred.
TIA

I am sorry to know about your loss.
You need to retrieve Death Certificate from "Civil Affairs - Ahwal Madani" office. Without this certificate you cant do a thing. It will take time before things get settled, HR should have helped you.
HR Guru has covered the rest of the topic. Hope things go well with you.

Thank you all for the replies.
HR Guru, your advice is sort on. I asked a expat friend of mine to go to the bank and company to find out wha the problem is.
At least I now know what is all needed.
I also heard yesterday that I need to get a letter from my husbands brother, stating he does not want the money, and they might pay it out to me.
How ridiculous is that.
It is going to be a very long process, but at least we are on the right track now.

Yolande-SA wrote:

Thank you all for the replies.
HR Guru, your advice is sort on. I asked a expat friend of mine to go to the bank and company to find out wha the problem is.
At least I now know what is all needed.
I also heard yesterday that I need to get a letter from my husbands brother, stating he does not want the money, and they might pay it out to me.
How ridiculous is that.
It is going to be a very long process, but at least we are on the right track now.

As I said, this is a very complicated and difficult issue with no clear process. If you are sending any one else to the authorities / bank here expect no response. But if you go directly things might move faster.

As for letter from brother, this is not ridiculous. As I said, you need to produce a letter from your home country attested by saudi embassy that you and kids (if any) are the only legal heirs.  This is under Sharia law,  imagine if the bank / authorities find later / get claim that there was another wife - under sharia law a man can marry up to 4, so its important to produce this letter of right - your right as the sole heir.

Glad to help, any further assistance required do let me know / PM me.

In addition to what HR Guru has stated above you will need a letter from court which is called "صك حصر ورثة". This document states make you legal successor of your late husband's assets, bank account. you will be able to complete formalities here with the help of this doc.

Thank you Ehtesham
I am back in South Africa. Have to try and do everything from here. It is very difficult with the company not telling me what they need.
After 8 months, at 'Last I now have an idea.

I am Saudi Attorney, if you still need advise inbox me