Trying to help Thai wife (Widow) apply for deceased Australian husband's Service Pension

[bobbin]

As above, I'm about to try to help a Thai woman apply for her deceased Australian husband's Service Pension. I have already been helping her with her inheritance as per her husband's will.. It was not seamless as her husband's sister wanted to include the Thai property he had purchased (but did not own, for reasons most of us are aware of) in the Estate's assets. That has been resolved, not in the sister's favor. Her husband had informed her early on that she would be able to receive his Service Pension. He had served in Vietnam and held a Gold Card.

 

I have done some (!) research and apparently there are persons accredited by the DVA to help applicants at no cost to them.. now having a hard time finding the exact info again. Her solicitor in the inheritance matter (retained because of the sister's objection to the will as written) is willing to help.. at $600/hr. He has already contacted DVA asking for her husband's service record and an overview of any benefits to which she may be entitled.

 

He is not that enthusiastic though, seeing a considerable amount of Australian taxpayers money headed out of the country for the next 3 decades or so. The widow is 44 y/o. I can't say that I don't understand that, but my role is to help her as her husband had intended.

 

I would appreciate any pointers and insight from those more familiar with the process.

Edited January 8 by bobbin
missed a word

[FritsSikkink]

I  would contact the Australian embassy.

[The Cyclist]

Someone far more qualified than me will come to your aid

 

In the meantime, some reading material

 

https://www.dva.gov.au/get-support/support-families/pension-orphans-and-war-widowers

 

Best of luck.

[scorecard]

On 1/8/2024 at 2:14 PM, The Cyclist said:

Someone far more qualified than me will come to your aid

 

In the meantime, some reading material

 

https://www.dva.gov.au/get-support/support-families/pension-orphans-and-war-widowers

 

Best of luck.

Did the sadly deceased war veteran see active service in Vietnam?

 

Is yes then perhaps you could contact one of the Vietnam veterans associations and seek their help.

 

I did this previously and discovered that the VN vets  association I contacted was highly professional, reacted very quickly, well informed, focused, keen to help and had lawyers on their 'staff'. This was their branch in NSW. 

 

On the other hand if the deceased war vet saw service in another war then perhaps contact the RSL and ask for details of any aligned associations.

(Yes I'm aware that the RSL went through a negative period, that's all changed and they are now very alert, professional, prompt and keen to help.)

 

Perhaps also worth sharing, war vets who receive disability compensation payments are entitled (by the legislation) to receive their payments abroard (in any country), paid by the DVA using international bank transfers (all organized / administered by the DVA, every 4 weeks (2 fortnights).  No bank charges paid by the recipient. I'm aware that the funds are deposited in OZ and available in my K Bank account about half a day later.

 

Mine is paid direct to my K Bank savings account in Thailand. K bank deduct a small fee each payment, about 150Baht. Easy to set up an automatic immediate e.mail from the receiving bank advising the recipient every 4 weeks that the funds have been deposited in the Thai bank 

 

The payment can be paid to a savings account in the name of the approved recipient of a joint savings account (approved recipient and one other person, DVA ask that the second person is related to the approved recipient). 

 

If it's a joint savings account DVA don't ask any questions about what signatures are needed for local bank account holders.

 

Mine is a joint savings account with K Bank, myself and my adult Thai son, anybody can sign for withdrawals, only one signature needed, but the DVA don't know this detail and (as above) don't ask questions re this point.

 

Whatever approach you use good luck. 

Edited February 1 by scorecard

[The Cyclist]

4 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Did the sadly deceased war veteran see active service in Vietnam?

 

I dont know mate. I was only trying to put a few pointers @bobbin way

 

On 1/8/2024 at 12:56 PM, bobbin said:

. He had served in Vietnam and held a Gold Card.

 

Apparently so.

[bobbin]

20 hours ago, scorecard said:

Did the sadly deceased war veteran see active service in Vietnam?

 

Is yes then perhaps you could contact one of the Vietnam veterans associations and seek their help.

 

I did this previously and discovered that the VN vets  association I contacted was highly professional, reacted very quickly, well informed, focused, keen to help and had lawyers on their 'staff'. This was their branch in NSW. 

 

On the other hand if the deceased war vet saw service in another war then perhaps contact the RSL and ask for details of any aligned associations.

(Yes I'm aware that the RSL went through a negative period, that's all changed and they are now very alert, professional, prompt and keen to help.)

 

Perhaps also worth sharing, war vets who receive disability compensation payments are entitled (by the legislation) to receive their payments abroard (in any country), paid by the DVA using international bank transfers (all organized / administered by the DVA, every 4 weeks (2 fortnights).  No bank charges paid by the recipient. I'm aware that the funds are deposited in OZ and available in my K Bank account about half a day later.

 

Mine is paid direct to my K Bank savings account in Thailand. K bank deduct a small fee each payment, about 150Baht. Easy to set up an automatic immediate e.mail from the receiving bank advising the recipient every 4 weeks that the funds have been deposited in the Thai bank 

 

The payment can be paid to a savings account in the name of the approved recipient of a joint savings account (approved recipient and one other person, DVA ask that the second person is related to the approved recipient). 

 

If it's a joint savings account DVA don't ask any questions about what signatures are needed for local bank account holders.

 

Mine is a joint savings account with K Bank, myself and my adult Thai son, anybody can sign for withdrawals, only one signature needed, but the DVA don't know this detail and (as above) don't ask questions re this point.

 

Whatever approach you use good luck. 

Thank you so much for your detailed answer scorecard. I have started communicating with Legacy Australia Brisbane this week. After initially contacting DVA, they "strongly advised" contacting them or a similar organization.

 

So far they have been very helpful.

[scorecard]

14 minutes ago, bobbin said:

Thank you so much for your detailed answer scorecard. I have started communicating with Legacy Australia Brisbane this week. After initially contacting DVA, they "strongly advised" contacting them or a similar organization.

 

So far they have been very helpful.

 

Wow, so far so good.

 

One more item.  Can I suggest don't put 'all your eggs in one basket'. What I mean is does 'legacy' have the 'capability' that you need in this case or would it be better to contact an ex war vets association. 

 

I have no knowledge whatever what Legacy does or what they focus on etc., maybe an ex War vets association might be better 'equipped' to advise you.

 

I emphasise that I don't know anything about Legacy.

 

One other point, the DVA website has a long list of 'Fact Sheets' covering all subjects in full detail, it might be worth taking a look to help build your own knowledge. 

 

Good luck.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, bobbin said:

Thank you so much for your detailed answer scorecard. I have started communicating with Legacy Australia Brisbane this week. After initially contacting DVA, they "strongly advised" contacting them or a similar organization.

 

So far they have been very helpful.

 

Just thought about another point to share and to be careful I'm not causing confusion. The DVA administers many different 'payment' types. The 2 main ones are:

 

- The Oz DVA service pension - applicable to all who served.

- The Oz DVA Disability Compensation payments system.

 

Plus there's entitlements for children's education and more. There's also the DVA home loan entitlement, at very low interest.

 

Some aspects of both of the main payments above are the same, some not.

 

I receive a permanent Oz DVA Disability Compensation 4 weekly payment for injuries / lifetime disabilities I suffered on active service in VN, so my  message yesterday is in relation to the Oz DVA Disability Compensation payment entitlement. I don't receive the soldiers pension. 

 

Again, as well as contacting a service organization and requesting their advice, guidance, help, (e.g. Legacy and more) can I suggest to open the DVA website and look at the list of Fact Sheets which give more in depth explanations on many points. 

 

It will take time but that's not the main point. 

 

Good luck and keep focused. 

[scorecard]

On 1/8/2024 at 12:56 PM, bobbin said:

As above, I'm about to try to help a Thai woman apply for her deceased Australian husband's Service Pension. I have already been helping her with her inheritance as per her husband's will.. It was not seamless as her husband's sister wanted to include the Thai property he had purchased (but did not own, for reasons most of us are aware of) in the Estate's assets. That has been resolved, not in the sister's favor. Her husband had informed her early on that she would be able to receive his Service Pension. He had served in Vietnam and held a Gold Card.

 

I have done some (!) research and apparently there are persons accredited by the DVA to help applicants at no cost to them.. now having a hard time finding the exact info again. Her solicitor in the inheritance matter (retained because of the sister's objection to the will as written) is willing to help.. at $600/hr. He has already contacted DVA asking for her husband's service record and an overview of any benefits to which she may be entitled.

 

He is not that enthusiastic though, seeing a considerable amount of Australian taxpayers money headed out of the country for the next 3 decades or so. The widow is 44 y/o. I can't say that I don't understand that, but my role is to help her as her husband had intended.

 

I would appreciate any pointers and insight from those more familiar with the process.

 

I confirm that the various ex-service associations  (e.g. the VN Veterans association) have staff who have attended /completed no charge training courses conducted by the DVA, all aligned to the subject here. They also have pro bono lawyers in their ranks who are quite knowledgeable about this subject. As said these lawyers make no charges, so perhaps no need to be paying $AU600 per hour.

 

I might also share that the attitude  (you mentioned re the AU$600) to money going out of Australia is not relevant and that's absolutely not an attitude coming from the DVA. The DVA's approach is clearly 'if there's an entitlement then how much it costs today or for the next 30 years is not in any way relevant.

 

Another point, to avoid any confusion, the DVA Permanent Disability Compensation payment has several categories and therefore several different compensation rates.

 

NOTE: The DVA used to call this 'the DVA Disability pension' but about 1.5 years back they changed the nomenclature to 'the DVA Permanent Disability Compensation' system'.  

Edited February 2 by scorecard

[Crossy]

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[KhunHeineken]

On 2/2/2024 at 4:42 AM, scorecard said:

 

I confirm that the various ex-service associations  (e.g. the VN Veterans association) have staff who have attended /completed no charge training courses conducted by the DVA, all aligned to the subject here. They also have pro bono lawyers in their ranks who are quite knowledgeable about this subject. As said these lawyers make no charges, so perhaps no need to be paying $AU600 per hour.

 

I might also share that the attitude  (you mentioned re the AU$600) to money going out of Australia is not relevant and that's absolutely not an attitude coming from the DVA. The DVA's approach is clearly 'if there's an entitlement then how much it costs today or for the next 30 years is not in any way relevant.

 

Another point, to avoid any confusion, the DVA Permanent Disability Compensation payment has several categories and therefore several different compensation rates.

 

NOTE: The DVA used to call this 'the DVA Disability pension' but about 1.5 years back they changed the nomenclature to 'the DVA Permanent Disability Compensation' system'.  

You have "confirmed" and "shared" a lot of information about a war widower's pension for someone on an old aged pension.  

[bobbin]

14 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

You have "confirmed" and "shared" a lot of information about a war widower's pension for someone on an old aged pension.  

I'm the OP, so was notified about "your contribution" to this thread.. which is exactly nothing.

 

Scorecard was responding to my request for information, which was relevant, and tracks to information I have subsequently learned. My thanks to him for that.

 

Kindly refrain from non-relevant and personal attack replies to my topic.