A near neighbour and friend of the wifes family has been married to an English man for 15 years, he came over twice a year until ill health recently reduced this. She was concerned at not having heard from him for some time and it now transpires that he died 6 months ago.

No family member, friend or solicitor had been in touch to inform her of this.

At her request I have emailed the funeral director to ask for details of the solicitor, and if possible a family address. I am sure she will be entitled to be informed of a will or the condition of his estate, though I would not expect there to be too much there.

Her financial situation is not good and I do not know if she will be entitled to any government death benefit.

She has also been told that if she takes the Marriage Certificate to the Embasy they will help get things in motion.

Has anybody experienced anything similar or know of the procedure to be followed?

Paperwork.............Get in touch with pensions UK. If she is under 45 she will get 2000 quid, if over, ah, can't remember, but think half pension for a year and 5000 quid if no kids...

Thanks for replying transam, he was only 58 or 59 so not on any pension, she will be about the same age.

It is a bit odd all round, he was in a hospice when he died so it can't exactly have been a surprise.

I suppose the embassy is the best route to take.

Not getting any sensible response from either the hospice or the funeral director.

Does anybody know if it is a legal entitlement for a widow to know the contents of her late husbands will (or intestacy if applicable)?

Incidentally I have no axe to grind here, I owe neither side any favours, but I was asked to help and I find the lack of response and transparency intriguing.

Maybe you need to start with the basics and check the marriage certificate and whether the marriage was registered in UK. Assuming that is the case, a phone call to the funeral directors should give you the solicitor involved. If there was no will the widow (I believe) gets everything.

Rott,

If I was you, the first thing I would do is contact Newcastle and get them to send an application form.

Its quite a detailed form, but most of the questions dont need to be answered.

The woman will need at least, marriage certificate, death certificate and the guys Nat Insurance number.

The last one I was involved with the woman ended up getting something like 150,000 baht, basically a 2 thousand quid death grant, and a percentage of the guys pension for one year.

She was told to apply again when she was 65 for another pension.

I will never get involved with this again, there was a lot of hostility and resentment directed towards the mrs and I from the womans family.

I dont know what stories the guy had been telling her, or whether if was based on local fishwife gossip from the local market about big payouts.

More resentment came from the local Thai who had been ripping this woman off for trying to fill in the application form that had been rejected at least once for lack of details.

It may also be prudent to find out what pension scheme the guys employers provided.

Does the woman involved have a copy of the guys passport?

I recall everything must match up, the woman I refer to didnt even know her husbands first name, never mind know he had a middle name.

I can't offer any specific advise, but would like to say one thing.

Maybe you need to start with the basics and check the marriage certificate and whether the marriage was registered in UK.

If the marriage is legal in Thailand, then it is legal in the UK (Foreign Marriage Act 1892 as amended).

You cannot register a foreign marriage in the UK, all you can do is deposit a copy of the foreign marriage certificate with the GRO (you used to be able to do this via the embassy, but now have to do so direct).

Having said that, for the marriage to be legal in Thailand it must have been registered at an ampur. A ceremonial marriage only is not a legal marriage in Thailand and so is also not a legal marriage in the UK.

As the OP says she has a marriage certificate, presumably they did register their marriage at an ampur.

I can't offer any specific advise, but would like to say one thing.

Maybe you need to start with the basics and check the marriage certificate and whether the marriage was registered in UK.

If the marriage is legal in Thailand, then it is legal in the UK (Foreign Marriage Act 1892 as amended).

You cannot register a foreign marriage in the UK, all you can do is deposit a copy of the foreign marriage certificate with the GRO (you used to be able to do this via the embassy, but now have to do so direct).

Having said that, for the marriage to be legal in Thailand it must have been registered at an ampur. A ceremonial marriage only is not a legal marriage in Thailand and so is also not a legal marriage in the UK.

As the OP says she has a marriage certificate, presumably they did register their marriage at an ampur.

That is hopefully good news for the widow. I had been told previously that any marriage had to have been registered in UK for widows rights to be upheld, but I bow to your greater knowledge 7

If there is no response It may come down to a translation of the marriage certificate being given to a UK lawyer to sort this out.

Transam, rgs, 7by7 and jpinx, many thanks for responding and for your constructive comments and advice.

Yes it was a legal Amphur marriage and a copy of the certificate has been deposited in the UK.

She has since spoken to someone at the Embassy and apparently somebody from the UK has since made contact, so whatever the end result will be at least she is getting on track to find out.

Many thanks again to all.