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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Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
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How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
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Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants
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- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
