The ex-wife of a Dubai resident has had her financial claim against his estate rejected by the UK's highest court because he had died, in a divorce dispute that has led to calls for legal reform.
Nafisa Hasan's proceedings against former husband Mahmud Ul Hasan cannot be pursued further due to his death, the UK's Supreme Court – the country's final court of appeal – concluded last week.
The case highlights a “defect in the law”, but it will be a matter for the country's parliament to decide if intervention is required, Justice Lord Leggat said in a written ruling.
Ms Hasan, who has also since died, married Mr Ul Hasan in 1981. They divorced in Pakistan in 2012.
She made a claim for “financial relief” in the Family Division of the High Court in London, saying she believed the scale of his wealth to be in excess of the £7 million ($8.9 million) he had disclosed.
Court proceedings were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, then Mr Ul Hasan died in Dubai in January 2021, weeks before a hearing.
Ms Hasan died in May 2022, the month after she had been given leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
In October 2022, five high court justices looked at the case and initially ruled against Ms Hasan's claim.
Case poses 'serious problem'
Byron James, partner at Abu Dhabi law firm Expatriate Law, represented the claimants. He said the ruling that death would void claims was “unfair and unjust”.
“It is about whether the English court has the power to hear a divorce case where one of the partners have died,” Mr James told The National.
“In this case we had an ultra-high net worth individual who developed dementia during proceedings so could not represent himself and so was represented by his second wife – he died after that.
“It is quite common for couples where one party – usually the husband – has most of the assets. During divorce proceedings, the court determines if some of these assets are matrimonial but if someone dies before a court makes the decision then you are not entitled to any of the assets.
“In western countries if someone dies, you don’t get to share in the capital as in this case. This is a very serious problem which is why the highest court in England – the Supreme Court – needs a parliament decision and begs the question, when you marry someone, do you automatically get property rights or only when a court decides? And if someone dies before the decision, then you get nothing, which is unfair and unjust.”
He said that there are steps that could be taken to avoid such a situation arising.
“There are things that you can do – if you have assets then put them in joint names or get life insurance policies or add provisions in wills,” he said.
Mr James represented the respondents pro bono. “In this case, we strongly believed that the respondent needed our help and so we stepped in to provide it,” he said.
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LIST OF INVITEES
Shergo Kurdi (am)
Rayhan Thomas
Saud Al Sharee (am)
Min Woo Lee
Todd Clements
Matthew Jordan
AbdulRahman Al Mansour (am)
Matteo Manassero
Alfie Plant
Othman Al Mulla
Shaun Norris
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
