We had so much trouble getting money finally paid to wife of one of our people who died of heart attack at work - all centred round problem of not having a Bahrain-based Will - a lesson to us all, but we got there in the end by going pretty high up basically; Roni, you can P.M. me.
Too many of us are unaware of what the payout to widows/family entails. 2 points:
1. As I mentioned, a Will drawn up in Bahrain to cover disposition of local assets is vital for a Bahrain judge to make a ruling for funds to be released. A UK based Will will only be accepted if endorsed with an affidavit from the British Embassy - not too easy to achieve I believe, and expensive. For anyone who owns a house here, this is a serious measure to take.
2. Gulf Air over the years since I first joined, have changed the insurance companies that insure the "Death-in-Benefit" payout. For death in service while on duty: basically as a result of an accident, 4 times the annual salary is payable. However, for death by natural causes - heart attack (even occurring on duty), drowning whilst boating off duty say, they had to get another company to cover, and the payout is only 2 times annual salary.
Hope this helps; I've found so many people just don't know what happens when the worst happens, and GF's wheels grind so slowly.