Can anyone recommended a Pattaya ( brit ) lawyer or someone who is familiar with UK procedures relating to my company pension inheritance my wife will be entitled to and assistance plus an idea of possible fees please.

 

Does Thai Visa recommend / advertise for anyone ? 

 

Any advice and information I can record for her would be appreciated.

 

Many thanks

Busby

 

 

 

 

 

Your pension company would be the best people to ask about that.

Of course yours may be different, but my pension company required me to be married before I started to draw my pension, and for us still to be married when I died for my wife (widow) to then  receive half of my pension.

 

They needed our wedding certificate and my wife's birth certificate translated  and certified by the translator (ie not a Google translate job).  They accepted a xerox of the originals to accompany the translations which is a good job as her birth certificate is literally worm-eaten and full of holes!

 

They acknowledged receipt in a letter which we have kept and a copy of which will accompany her eventual claim. They also confirmed they can send the pension direct to her Thai bank account and enclosed the authorisation form.

 

Talk to them first.

 

Unless your wife has  paid NI contributions in her own right I think she will not be eligible for any UK state benefits at all: unless she subsequently arrives there by rubber dinghy that is.

You don't need a lawyer, in the first instance you should talk to your pension provider for details of how to designate a beneficiary of your private pension after you pass on. Typically you just nominate that person although the rules governing how that pension will be paid to your survivors will vary from pension company to pension company.

 

Useful places to go for information on UK pensions include the Money Service, CAB and the FCA.

 

You will not find a practicing UK lawyer in Pattaya, you may find one that is UK licensed in Bangkok but by definition will not be practicing in the UK.

 

A UK based Financial Adviser may be of help but you will not find one in Thailand that is licensed.

 

Best bet, talk to your pension company by email or phone.

Try these guys...0800 011 3797

https://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/

 

If it is a Defined Benefit Pension?, there perhaps is a Scheme Booklet, with dependant benefits. You should have made out a  form nominating who you would like the proceeds/pension to go to.

The people that should know what's what, are the scheme administrators.

Is it a Money purchase pension, SIPP /DC? 

Can't see why you would need a lawyer.....

Thank you for the replies which are appreciated.

 

I have already made a list of the things required by my works pension provider.

My wife's English is not so good and she gets confused when dealing with legal matters and I can imagine she will be really flustered when the time comes.

We have been legally married 20 years and all the original documents / certificates plus translations which I had done some time ago for immigration are in her possession.

 

I will contact the company again and see if they will let her claim after sending the required information the advised me about while empathizing with the difficulties.

 

In recent times they keep changing the requirements so I tend to contact them annually just in case I have to provide something further.

 

As saengd has mentioned I did contact them via phone and after nominating her again recently got them to email the list as a reference to download.

 

No one speaks much English in the village so I will also try to find someone who does who she can contact locally.

 

Thank you again for your replies which are helpful.

 

Busby