British widow and son. Any entitlement?

[baneko]

Unfortunately 4 months ago one of my friends decided to commit suicide in Bangkok. This was a culmination of overstay, age and no money unfortunately. He has left a wife and son. The son is half Thai/UK and has a UK passport.

 

My question is does his son who is 9 and possibly his wife (Thai citizen only) have any entitlement from the UK government to family allowance or any other benefit. They are finding it difficult to make ends meet and are still in shock from what happened to her husband and his dad.

 

I don't expect they will receive anything as they both live in Thailand. She has asked my wife and myself to help find out. He had no private pensions etc.

 

Thanks

[torturedsole]

How old was your friend at the time of his death, baneko?  A little more detail of his former life in the UK too, i.e. employment history, irrespective of your assertion that he had no private pension(s) etc. 

 

[baneko]

He was 64yrs old. He worked offshore most of his days. I know he was not due the UK pension until after 65 but don't have much more info. He had no property in the UK.

[torturedsole]

1 minute ago, baneko said:

He was 64yrs old. He worked offshore most of his days. I know he was not due the UK pension until after 65 but don't have much more info. He had no property in the UK.

I'm not an expert but know that what you've provided in post #3 will be relevant in any subsequent response(s).  A sad case and wish all concerned the very best.

[ubonjoe]

Moved to here for better input from those more familiar with UK benefits.

[evadgib]

Hats off to the OP for trying to help. Do you know if any blood relatives exist in UK? Has anyone contacted the embassy? They will know who the NoK is and in most cases will at least put the parties in touch with each other unless specifically told otherwise.

HTH

 

[crazykopite]

I would of thought that there maybe an entitlement to a widows pension also if he worked on an oil rig he might have a pension due from them tho I note you said he did not have a private pension but having had a family member work on a rig they as a company are normally very helpful. Can I suggest you contact the British Embassy in BKK and go onto the YouGov site . I presume his death was reported to the BE in Bangkok !

[maprao]

Research her getting a visa linked to him. Not sure how but it is on the uk.gov website I remember seeing it.

[Letseng]

15 hours ago, torturedsole said:

How old was your friend at the time of his death, baneko?  A little more detail of his former life in the UK too, i.e. employment history, irrespective of your assertion that he had no private pension(s) etc. 

 

From what I know the widow is entitled to nothing. The child should get support being a Brit. citizen.

Contacting the embassy is worth a try. May be you can give them help by reading up on gov. website and perhaps helping to contact the gov. depts.? I'm assuming the widow's English may not be good enough to do it.

 

[Catoholic]

heartbreaking...

[angloirishaussie]

I think you only get the Government pension at 67 and you will only get a % pro rata as to National Insurance premium paid and i do not think his poor wife can get anything.

Hopefully the child can get help

Agree check websites

 

Sad stuff mate 

[steve187]

7 minutes ago, angloirishaussie said:

I think you only get the Government pension at 67 and you will only get a % pro rata as to National Insurance premium paid and i do not think his poor wife can get anything.

Hopefully the child can get help

Agree check websites

 

Sad stuff mate 

state pension is now  paid at 66, some will still get at 65 and some months, ie someone born on 1st july 1954 will get their pension at age 65 8 months 5 days both for women and men.

 

https://www.gov.uk/claim-benefits-abroad/bereavement-benefits

no Bereavement Support Payment payable, or  Widowed Parent's Allowance to the wife in these circumstances, as Thailand is not included in the list of countries where the payment is claimable - https://www.gov.uk/claim-benefits-abroad/bereavement-benefits

[DJ54]

looked around the UK website you might send questions here. As someone said prior has to be countries in list. But maybe there is a special benefit depending on situation.. ..... Best of luck

 

https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/shortforms/form/CBO_General

 

 

 

[DJ54]

This might help ...

 

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10085.pdf

[yang123]

14 minutes ago, DJ54 said:

This might help ...

 

https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10085.pdf

Not if the deceased was a British national.

[Janner1]

If the ladies husband paid National Health stamps for any appreciable time and his marriage was registered in the UK ( it should be because the son has UK citizenship) the lady should contact the UK government Pension department, she will need her late husbands National Health number and his passport.

She can contact the British Embassy for help/info.

There is a very slim chance especially if he paid any additional stamps to update his pension status.

 

Now for the drastic action  If all else fails and only if every avenue comes up dry the lady could threaten to send her so to England and DUMP him on Social Services this is not a recommendation but at least it will establish the son’s benefit requirements.

The problem with this action is that he will be placed in care and she may not get him back until 18 years old, so it should ONLY be considered if mother and son are destitute and as a very last resort.

Good luck I hope a solution can be found quickly

[cme]

Unfortunatley his wife will receive no UK State pension, today everyone must pay in to the system for 10 years before being eligible. She may be entitled to a single bereavement allowance though. Of course there may be a private insurance/pension scheme available.

Don`t know about any child support.

[gimo]

  Write a letter to the govt or embassey , explaining the situation . I know of a thai lady who had 2 kids with an english husband who died , and got money from the govt after doing so .

[rickudon]

I very much doubt the wife will get anything. Widows pension ended a couple of years ago, and as said, bereavement allowance will not usually be paid if outside of the EU (not in Thailand, anyway). Child support only paid in UK and EU. As he wasn't yet 65 may have some company/private pension scheme he was paying into - depends on who he worked for. Private companies will sometimes pay a pension to dependents even if not qualified (I got a widows pension for my ex-wife's mother after her husband died, even though his company didn't provide widows pension). Lets hope the Thai wife has all the documents needed. Are UK relatives able to help?

 

Unfortunately the British government doesn't care about it's citizens when outside of Europe (and Europe only because of EU legislation), even the USA will pay a child allowance for any offspring of a US citizen anywhere. The last resort, as suggested, is put the son on a one-way flight to the UK and leave it to social services to deal with, but they might send him back if he has a Thai passport ...

 

An awful situation.

[UKresonant]

Can she remember if he mentioned any companies he worked for in the past?
 
https://www.gov.uk/find-pension-contact-details
 
Worth a try if she can?

[baneko]

On ‎12‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 4:52 AM, Letseng said:

From what I know the widow is entitled to nothing. The child should get support being a Brit. citizen.

Contacting the embassy is worth a try. May be you can give them help by reading up on gov. website and perhaps helping to contact the gov. depts.? I'm assuming the widow's English may not be good enough to do it.

 

Unfortunately that is the issue. Her English is not great. I will check the you Gov website as many people have said.