UK State Pension Payments to a Thai Spouse

[Geoff914]

3 hours ago, PPGuy said:

Weekly is also possible. That requires a UK bank account. I arranged this with a call to DWP a few years back. A rather painless process as I was not changing the bank account only the timings.

 

It was just after I had my pension stopped due to non submission of the proof of life cert. It took some time to get that sorted and I was cheesed off with the delay and considered that going for a weekly payment I would have earlier knowledge of a problem.

I think you can only do weekly in extreme circumstances. I thought that you could. I applied for weekly but only got every 2 weeks.. Bad to hear that they took time after you didn't respond to the life check up. How often do they do it, every year?

[Lancelot01]

On 8/6/2025 at 7:50 AM, Bday Prang said:

I don't know for sure but I imagine the embassy would, contrary to their normal disinterest in us, become involved and inform somebody back in the UK   I think the embassy  are informed when we kick the bucket by the authorities here. before they are allowed to cremate the body    They are good for nothing else

They will also inform the DWP of a demise, the DEP will then cancel any and all payments. 

[Jumbo1968]

2 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

     You were bang on bud , my financial advisor contacted me last night with info on a "Standard life" fixed term annuity which will pay an initial 25% lump sum into my UK bank account followed by 4 years of regular payments annually in advance, If  I die before the plan is completed then they will pay the remaining  balance tax free to the wifes Thai account.   why they can do it but so many others would not is a mystery to me   

     

Because you assigned it to your Thai wife albeit it will reduce your payments because you assigned it.

[thaibreaker]

3 hours ago, norsurin said:

Rigth.I have a  pension from Norway about 4500£ a month.Thats included money from DNB LIV.

I worked 40 years so i get full pension here.I had a accident at work in 2015 and after 3 years i get payed out from TRYG a good amount of money.That time i divorced my thaiwife here and she tried to make me sign some papers that i refused.She had remarried here so she didn't have any rigths to anything.If she didn't married again she could claim widow pension even if we divorced.If i die before my kids here they will get it.Im still on uføretrygd here and will receive that some years more.I will never get married again that's for sure.Im allowed to stay in fex Thailand 6 months a year.That means a period from 1st of January and 6 months ahead or start another month.It also means i can stay from fex july until 31st December and then can start on a new 6 months period from 1st of January.

Anyway i never do that..3-4 months a year is enough for me.

Yep, we better be careful with our choice of life partner. I won't marry again either.

 

Staying 6 months a calender year was very easy for snowbirds when the Norwegian embassy still provided us the income letter. Those days are also gone next year, but getting an O-A from Oslo is still an option. Or a 90 days non O visa from Oslo.

Or do the visa exemption, extensions and border runs. It's more time consuming though.

 

In addition, the Thai baht is very strong, also compared to NOK. I remember when 1 krone was 6 baht, 20 years ago.. 3.16 now, but it was just around 3.00 before Trump.. That's a 50% decrease of value, and a lot less baht for our money.

 

At least we can thank Trump for a slightly stronger krone against dollar and baht at the moment. 

 

It isn't easy here anymore, but I still choose Thailand over any other country in SE Asia.

[thaibreaker]

Double post

[norsurin]

27 minutes ago, thaibreaker said:

Yep, we better be careful with our choice of life partner. I won't marry again either.

 

Staying 6 months a calender year was very easy for snowbirds when the Norwegian embassy still provided us the income letter. Those days are also gone next year, but getting an O-A from Oslo is still an option. Or a 90 days non O visa from Oslo.

Or do the visa exemption, extensions and border runs. It's more time consuming though.

 

In addition, the Thai baht is very strong, also compared to NOK. I remember when 1 krone was 6 baht, 20 years ago.. 3.16 now, but it was just around 3.00 before Trump.. That's a 50% decrease of value, and a lot less baht for our money.

 

At least we can thank Trump for a slightly stronger krone against dollar and baht at the moment. 

 

It isn't easy here anymore, but I still choose Thailand over any other country in SE Asia.

I remember when we get 6.42 baht.Now its not even half. Thailand is not cheap anymore.I will stay 4 months next trip.Mostly in Bangkok and hua-hin. 

[Bday Prang]

57 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

Because you assigned it to your Thai wife albeit it will reduce your payments because you assigned it.

I have no idea what you mean. I have all the figures ,no payments are reduced, I have no Idea what you mean by assigned  to the wife    she is merely named as the beneficiary of death benefits should I die before the annuity has run its course, as is probably the case with most people  In my case she gets a tax free lump sum of all the money left in the pot. if I don't die It will all come to me

[Bday Prang]

2 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

I think you can only do weekly in extreme circumstances. I thought that you could. I applied for weekly but only got every 2 weeks.. Bad to hear that they took time after you didn't respond to the life check up. How often do they do it, every year?

I don't think they check at all if they think you live in the UK. I intend to tell them nothing . so hopefully the first time they find out i leftv is when they hear of my demise here   I'd love to see their face when they realise I scammed them  assuming I live long enough

[Bday Prang]

1 hour ago, Lancelot01 said:

They will also inform the DWP of a demise, the DEP will then cancel any and all payments. 

how nice of them eh? .

[Jumbo1968]

34 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

I have no idea what you mean. I have all the figures ,no payments are reduced, I have no Idea what you mean by assigned  to the wife    she is merely named as the beneficiary of death benefits should I die before the annuity has run its course, as is probably the case with most people  In my case she gets a tax free lump sum of all the money left in the pot. if I don't die It will all come to me

If you had originally had taken a single annuity out meaning when you died the annuity died with you, you would have received larger monthly payments. You obviously took out a joint annuity meaning payments continue to your spouse, annuities never run out,Once you take an annuity out you can’t cash it in, no idea what you mean when you say she will receive a cash free lump sum from it ?

[Bday Prang]

54 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

If you had originally had taken a single annuity out meaning when you died the annuity died with you, you would have received larger monthly payments. You obviously took out a joint annuity meaning payments continue to your spouse, annuities never run out,Once you take an annuity out you can’t cash it in, no idea what you mean when you say she will receive a cash free lump sum from it ?

           No I did not "obviously"  take  out a joint annuity for me and her, , In fact I have not even taken it out yet if you must know.

            It might not even technically  actually be "annuity"  I'm f++ked if I know and to be honest I don't care I am not an expert in these things 

            It provides a tax efficient way of releasing my pension funds over a 4 year period , which is something not possible with my current  pension arrangements and if I die during that period, which is unfortunately ,at least for me , more than likely  the remaining funds are paid to the missis tax free, as I have nominated her as the sole beneficiary.

            It was exactly what I have been looking for there are similar products available but all so far had been refusing to to send funds to overseas bank accounts citing money laundering regs as their excuse.              To be honest I have better things to do with the time I have left than argue over the details or    the finer points of terminology on this forum

          My original comment to @The Cyclist was to thank him for his suggestions which unbeknown to me at the time, had coincidentally  matched the latest suggestions from my financial advisor

Can we just leave it at that please

[Geoff914]

12 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

 no idea what you mean when you say she will receive a cash free lump sum from it ?

Sounds like draw down. If it is draw down then the beneficiary gets the remaining pot. In the UK just be aware that Labour screwed that up. Cunning bastards get the tax twice. Take 40% inheritance tax then 20% when the spouse takes the pension. Save for a pension and under those circumstances the Government take 60%. Then they have the nerve to say workers aren't saving enough for their retirement. People would be saving enough if we weren't taxed up to the eyeballs.

 

 

[Bday Prang]

8 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

Sounds like draw down

Correct answer, thank you. They won't get any inheritance tax from me   thankfully I am nowhere near rich enough  ps the thumbs down is not from me

[treetops]

4 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

ps the thumbs down is not from me

 

Wasn't me either but I guess it would be for the misinformed rant about inheritance tax.

[jimn]

On 8/3/2025 at 1:05 PM, vibration said:

I am a British Citizen retired and living in Thailand for many years with my Thai wife.

 

I receive UK State Pension paid every 4 weeks to my Wise Account and this is then transferred into my Thai Bank account when needed.

 

My question is if I die before my wife will my Thai wife be eligible for all or part of my UK State Pension.

 

I did try and research this online however this was inconclusive.

 

Many thanks in advance for any help.

100% no. She may be eligible for part of a private pension but not the State Pension 

[Bday Prang]

55 minutes ago, treetops said:

 

Wasn't me either but I guess it would be for the misinformed rant about inheritance tax.

I never suggested it was,    So  why quote me?     I never even mentioned inheritance tax except to say I was not wealthy enough to have to worry about  it 

   Yet another example of having to say something ,   as opposed to having something to say

[treetops]

4 minutes ago, Bday Prang said:

I never suggested it was,    So  why quote me?     I never even mentioned inheritance tax except to say I was not wealthy enough to have to worry about  it 

   Yet another example of having to say something ,   as opposed to having something to say

 

Wind your neck in.

 

I was adding to your comment regarding the thumbs down and suggesting a reason for it, which everyone is free to discuss if they like.  That's the sort of thing that happens on chat forums.

[Bday Prang]

17 minutes ago, treetops said:

 

Wind your neck in.

 

I was adding to your comment regarding the thumbs down and suggesting a reason for it, which everyone is free to discuss if they like.  That's the sort of thing that happens on chat forums.

except that most on these sort of threads do actually have something useful  to say, sadly there are always exceptions. and in this case its you  why did you even bother?

[treetops]

1 minute ago, Bday Prang said:

except that most on these sort of threads do actually have something useful  to say, sadly there are always exceptions. and in this case its you  why did you even bother?

 

Because I believe his information on inheritance tax is skewed, if not downright incorrect, so I brought it up in the hope of further discussion/clarification, and thought the thumbs down comment may have been linked to this potential inaccuracy.

 

Maybe you don't find it useful if, as you say, you are nowhere near rich enough, but it's not your thread and perhaps others will.

 

If you don't like to chat about it then just jog on.

 

 

[Bday Prang]

Just now, treetops said:

 

Because I believe his information on inheritance tax is skewed, if not downright incorrect, so I brought it up in the hope of further discussion/clarification, and thought the thumbs down comment may have been linked to this potential inaccuracy.

 

Maybe you don't find it useful if, as you say, you are nowhere near rich enough, but it's not your thread and perhaps others will.

 

If you don't like to chat about it then just jog on.

 

 

yeah yeah yeah    over and out 

[PPGuy]

19 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

I think you can only do weekly in extreme circumstances. I thought that you could. I applied for weekly but only got every 2 weeks.. Bad to hear that they took time after you didn't respond to the life check up. How often do they do it, every year?

As mentioned, the process to change to weekly, from 4 weekly, was simple. A phone call requesting the change was all that was needed.  No special circumstances in my case, except for a need to have a UK bank account. My pension is frozen as based in Thailand, but the payments are credited to a UK bank, Nationwide. I then transfer to Thailand via Wise as and when needed.

The PoL certs seem to be sent out every 2 years. Covid did change that cycle for a year or so. 

[Geoff914]

5 hours ago, treetops said:

 

Wasn't me either but I guess it would be for the misinformed rant about inheritance tax.

What was misinformed about inheritance tax. Previously a pension pot we excluded. It will in a year or two's time be included in the estate for inheritance tax and therefor be taxed at 40% if the estate exceeds the allowance. When the beneficiary draws the pension then 20% tax will be deducted. I suppose if they had no other income they can offset that against their allowance. A Thai person I assume would still have to pay the tax.

What is incorrect about what I said?

[Geoff914]

They wouldn't do mine weekly.

[treetops]

16 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

What is incorrect about what I said?

 

You never mentioned the allowance of £325,000 in your first post, and the fact that if it's left to a wife (as seems the case with the guy you addressed) or civil partner there is no tax to pay no matter the value.

[transam]

16 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

They wouldn't do mine weekly.

It's 28 days or 3 monthly, unless it has changed.......🤗

[topt]

3 hours ago, treetops said:

 

You never mentioned the allowance of £325,000 in your first post, and the fact that if it's left to a wife (as seems the case with the guy you addressed) or civil partner there is no tax to pay no matter the value.

Not sure of the specific example quoted but if the wife is "non UK domiciled" and the husband is considered domiciled then they only get the 325k allowance free of tax from what I have been reading. 

 

Even if both non-domiciled IHT is potentially due on certain UK based assets (including property) over the 325k allowance.

 

If people now meet the new domicile rules (much easier than before) and you can move investments out of the UK you can minimise potential IHT which previously you would have been liable to pay. 

[Geoff914]

5 hours ago, treetops said:

 

You never mentioned the allowance of £325,000 in your first post, and the fact that if it's left to a wife (as seems the case with the guy you addressed) or civil partner there is no tax to pay no matter the value.

Yes correct I forgot to mention that a wife would inherit tax free. There was another post of somebody wanting to build up a nest egg to a non married partner I think that was a different thread though and I was warning the poster about inheritance tax. Got my posts mixed yp

 

[Geoff914]

10 hours ago, transam said:

It's 28 days or 3 monthly, unless it has changed.......🤗

I get mine every 2 weeks.

 

[transam]

11 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

I get mine every 2 weeks.

 

Your UK state pension paid if living abroad every 2 weeks....?

 

Hmmm, strange their website states 4 or 13 weeks, tell us how you get it every 2 weeks....🤗

[Geoff914]

7 hours ago, transam said:

Your UK state pension paid if living abroad every 2 weeks....?

 

Hmmm, strange their website states 4 or 13 weeks, tell us how you get it every 2 weeks....🤗

 

I am in the UK. I was having trouble budgeting. If it was monthly it would have been better, at least it would have been the same date every month. It was a pain budgeting for direct debits which are a fixed date. I was browsing the the DWP web site and it said the pension was paid 4 weekly or you could apply for weekly so I applied for it to be paid weekly. But it came back every two weeks I did try to query it but banging my head on a brick wall is more satisfying that trying to get an answer out of a Government department. Every two weeks works fine for me, just puzzled by why not weekly.