UK Pensioners - Thai wives pension rights!

Well done Bob. Does it all look legit? I am sure I don't have to tell you to be careful. My advise of refund just simply told me a payment would be made to the normal bank my pension is paid to every month"unless I advised them differently"I received it in three working days.Certainly don't send the bank info by email.

Now that is interesting. thanks

An afterthought. If you filled in the form R43 to claim refund it has a part on page 4 to give bank act details!!Or alternative means of refunding you.

I am looking at requesting my UK state pension sent to me here Thailand.
I see somewhere a post saying now this can be done.
I googled about this, without success.
Anyone know anything about having pension payments sent abroad?

Copied from the Directgov website (pensions) which may interest some members:-

How the State Pension is paid if you live abroad
If you live abroad then your State Pension can be paid directly into one of the following:

a bank in the country in which you live
a bank or building society in the UK
Payment to a bank in the country where you live

Your State Pension can be paid electronically into any of the following countries: Antigua, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Barbuda, Belgium, Canada, Channel Islands, Cyprus, Denmark, Dominica (Commonwealth), Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, South Africa, Spain, St Kitts – Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America.

From October 2009 additional countries will be: Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Colombia, Egypt, Greece, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and Yemen.

Payment will be made in the local currency of the country in which the bank account is held. No charges are made for this service.

Tafia
Member

The above is from the UK pension posts earlier this year. I would like to point out that Thai baht sent from the UK, is always at a lower exchange rate. You are better having the pension paid to your UK bank account and transfer it in GBP to Thailand. You get a better rate at the Thai clearing bank, which is BKK Bank. I think the charge for up to 10,000 GBP, is only 20 GBP.

Dont feel bad about applying for your wife.

I just googled "Dependent Spouse UK "
It will open your eyes !
Extract from www.skillclear.co.uk a UK Immigration Agency :-

Spouse, Family and Dependant Visas for the UK
Family Visa Overview
It would be fairly pointless you achieving the career you desire in the country you want to live in without your family with you. In fact, your family and their own particular skills and experience, may help you obtain your permit in the first place.

Work Permits and Visas for the UK are designed to allow your family to share the benefits of living here and they are very welcome.

When you make your application, be sure to include the relevant sections about your family. This may need separate forms for your spouse. Do not worry. We can help you with this and make sure the whole family do what is needed.

Once you are here, you can enjoy the same benefits as the British.

You may apply for your spouse and children (under 18 years) to accompany you as your dependants.

They will need to complete forms as well.

Your spouse, partner and children can get a UK Visa and enjoy the same benefits as UK people, including free education, free healthcare and the ability to work in the UK.

There is also private education and private healthcare which you are welcome to assess.

Skillclear has relationships with many different kinds of businesses. We can help you with information about accomodation, schooling, healthcare and many other matters designed to allow the smoothest possible move for all of you.

There are many ways in which your family can accompany you or join you later and many types of visas that may be applicable to t

There you go !!

Quote You get a better rate at the Thai clearing bank, which is BKK Bank. I think the charge for up to 10,000 GBP, is only 20 GBP."
Hold on,are you saying it costs 20 pound to transfer 10,000 baht?
I took out 5,000 bht from ATM recently.with a fee, and commission from the bank, plus ATM fee, came to 4 pound 50!
So even at twice that amount, would be cheaper to obtain.
If thats the case I wont bother!

Yes, a vote of thanks to Ralph and Trubrit for providing this information to the UK crowd.

I've got five years to go before eligible for state pension. Whilst I'm not planning it (a crazy buffalo or snake may have other ideas!) any ideas of the position if I die before 65? Rather like the employer pensions, would a widow's pension come into play etc?

Whilst my wife speaks fair English, I couldn't expect her to understand or know her way around dealing with various UK agencies to claim her entitlements. Thus, I'm trying to leave info with my Uk-based sons to deal on her behalf when the time comes, hopefully many years yet.

Always a bit concerned that with another pension in play when I'm 60, which will give me about £1,000 in all per month, then these state pension benefits at 65, that I'll suddenly get hit for tax or tax owing.

The post needs a bit of updating
1) The 'adult dependency payment' which in effect was an additional £60 added to your pension if you were supporting your wife on a single pension, no matter where you lived, was discontinued in April 2010. Payment to existing claimants will continue until 2020
2) The wife is currently still entitled to the bereavement allowance ( do not loiter at the top of the stairs)
3) She is currently entitled to a widows benefit providing the children of the marriage are below 16 years old
4) She is entitled to a widows pension when she reaches retirement age - based on her husband's NI contributions

I would expect items 2,3 and 4 to be phased out, in the future, the same as 1, as the Government strives to find more funds to make the country more attractive to welfare seekers.

I married a Thai lass in August 2009 and sent off the application form and marriage cert and wife's documentation which were returned along with a covering letter dated September 2009. Since then, despite numerous letters, emails and phone calls from me, I received nothing of substance, only the stock reply that my details had been received and were being looked into.

Today I received a letter from the DWP saying that I'm not entitled to this allowance because I live in the UK and my wife lives in Thailand. It's taken them 14 months to come to this conclusion, surely they could have told me this at the onset and saved me a lot of time and effort. Instead I've been passed between Birmingham, Newcastle and London and finally had to write two letters to the CEO of the Pension Service with a copy sent to the Pensions Advisory Service.

I'm now in the position where I either have to accept this decision or ask them to reconsider. I was always under the impression that if you were legally married, irrespective of the wife's nationality or whether or not you lived under the same roof, you were entitled to this allowance.

I do plan to live permanently in Thailand in the near future, but I am now outside of the cut off date (April 2010) so I don't know if the change of circumstances would be valid under the original claim of August 2009.

I should be grateful to hear from anyone who's circumstances are similar and who have actually been granted this allowance.

As it's been a while, whilst I'm doing my own checks, anyone have any new information on this topic?
Thanks.

Brian Davis wrote:As it's been a while, whilst I'm doing my own checks, anyone have any new information on this topic?
Thanks.

There has been a few alterations slipped quietly in since I last posted on this subject so this is the current situation as far as I am aware but don't take it as gospel though, there may be other changes I am not aware of .
Bereavement payment. This is a one off payment of 2,000pound payable on the death of the husband if the wife is under State Pension age at your death , subject to the following exclusions :
You were not divorced or the civil partnership had been dissolved when he died .
You were living with another partner or you are imprisoned.
This sum is Tax free.
NB; It mentions a civil partnership, but as far as I am aware that doesn't apply to non UK residents .I am not involved in this but I think it might be contestable for those living abroad .Worth a try .
Widows pension . This is NO more . It has been replaced by a Bereavement allowance. With the same exclusions as above. This is a weekly allowance paid for 52 weeks after death only .After that, there is no more .It is paid to the widow who must be over 45 at your death, on a rising scale , dependent on her age at the time. It starts at 29.30p @ 45years , rising to the maximum of 97.65p @ 55 and over ,up to normal pensionable age .It is taxable if she has other taxable income from a UK source .
If you have a child together, not step child, when she is widowed, you can get Widowed Parents allowance but you will not get Bereavement Allowance as well .Haven't any details on that .
One thing worth checking if it applies to you .Previously unless you were receiving a married couples pension your wife did not qualify for a Widows Pension . Now , I believe , although the Bereavement Allowance replaces the Widows Pension there is no such restriction on getting this for her .

All I have written takes into account the introductions in the just completed budget.

I appreciate matters concerning pensions/benefits are subject to change. Not all negative, it seems, if news of a sizeable increase in the UK basic pension rate is coming soon.
I’ve just a few years to go before reaching pensionable age anyway , but with a baby on the way, I’ve cause to look again at benefits. Who knows what tomorrow brings? Knowing my TW would have difficulty in dealing with UK agencies, I just feel it prudent to leave clear guidance on benefits available. I’d just HATE to miss out on entitlements!
Is anyone knows differently, please let me know. But my understanding is
1. If one is permanently resident in Thailand, you CANNOT claim child benefit.
2. Above brings me to my second query. Whilst I hope to be around for many years yet, should my TW be left with a child, she CANNOT claim the now termed Widowed Parents Allowance, even if meeting other requirements, because she hasn’t been in receipt of child benefit. The website clearly states
“If you’re a parent whose husband, wife or civil partner has died and you have at least one child who you receive Child Benefit for, you may be able to get Widowed Parent's Allowance (WPA)“
It seems she’d be entitled to the one-off Bereavement payment (£2,000).
The separate Bereavement Allowance can, I feel, be put on the back burner. She has 20 years to go before reaching the qualifying age of 45 years and, of course, I’d have to last that long too!