Dubai: Authorities in Kuwait require legal heirship certificate and Power of Attorney for processing the claim for compensation in case of death of an Indian national in accident, the Indian embassy in Kuwait has said. In case of death of an Indian national in a road accident, work-site accident and other accident, the embassy has been invariably sending an advisory message through a registered letter to legal heirs of the deceased to appoint it as their Attorney and forward Power of Attorney and Legal Heirship certificate, the mission said in a statement. The document should be duly attested by the concerned authorities in India such as District Magistrate or First Class Magistrate, Authorised Officer of the State Government, Ministry of External affairs, Consular Section, New Delhi or Branch Secretariat of the Ministry of External Affairs (outside Delhi) for filing a claim for death compensation on behalf of the legal heirs, it said.

In India, the concerned State Government issues legal heirship certificate in form of 'family member Certificate' or 'Certificate' which carry the same information which the local authorities required to be mentioned in the legal heirship certificate. "The legal heirs of the deceased can appoint any person of their choice, who is residing in Kuwait or Embassy of India, as their attorney for filing a case for death compensation with the concerned Kuwaiti authorities," it said. "According to the local laws, death compensation cases related to work-site accident should be filed within one year and traffic accident case should be filed within three years from the date of accident, otherwise it becomes time barred," the statement added. The embassy said it has five qualified lawyers on its panel whose services can be utilized in such cases.