Family Allowance UK

[Ivor Biggun]

Unsure where to post this question.
Is Family Allowance still paid in the UK ? As an Expat and having a Thai child but UK registered, am I still able to claim any benefits ie tax etc etc. I pay UK taxes on my pensions so I consider myself to be still entitled to UK benefits or am I wrong ?

[Thetyim]

Child must be resident in the UK to claim.

It's a few years since I claimed child allowance so this may be out of date but the allowance can only be paid to the mother so you would not be able to offset it against your tax

[Blake7]

you and child must be a uk resident but it can be paid to the father.

[Luckydog]

I suppose you know you get an allowance for your wife if you are legally married.
After you die she gets her wife's allowance for a year then zilch until she is 60yrs old when she gets it again. As long as she claims properly of course.......this is sometimes a prob.

[Thetyim]

until she is 60yrs old when she gets it again.

I thought she had to be married to you for a certain number of years before she gets her own pension.
Does anyone know ?

[a. boozer]

until she is 60yrs old when she gets it again.

I thought she had to be married to you for a certain number of years before she gets her own pension.
Does anyone know ?

My understanding (and I stand to be corrected), is that your wife can obtain a pension based on your own NI contributions. The marriage needs to be registered through the British Embassy, and you would need to get a NI number for your spouse.
Don't forget that the retirement age for women is being raised to 65 in 2020, and that this is being graduated.
Thetyim, this won't affect you, with a younger wife, but in the case of my wife who is currently 55, she will not be able to obtain a pension until she is 61.
I would think that it would be a good idea if the older Brits, with the more mature wives (there are a few of us, that have them, around!), did some of the groundwork, on behalf of our spouses, just in case we make an early departure from this world.
Somehow I could not imagine Mrs. Boozer being able to cope with making the necessary application.

[astasinim]

£17 per week. Can be paid to mother or father. At the moment its paid to me, as my wife has "No Recourse to public funds" stamped in her passport, until she passes the life in the UK test.

[Richard Littlejohn]

The parent must me living anywhere in the EU to claim child benefit & the child can be in a different country to the parent, but again, also in the EU.

[Ivor Biggun]

until she is 60yrs old when she gets it again.

I thought she had to be married to you for a certain number of years before she gets her own pension.
Does anyone know ?

My understanding (and I stand to be corrected), is that your wife can obtain a pension based on your own NI contributions. The marriage needs to be registered through the British Embassy, and you would need to get a NI number for your spouse.
Don't forget that the retirement age for women is being raised to 65 in 2020, and that this is being graduated.
Thetyim, this won't affect you, with a younger wife, but in the case of my wife who is currently 55, she will not be able to obtain a pension until she is 61.
I would think that it would be a good idea if the older Brits, with the more mature wives (there are a few of us, that have them, around!), did some of the groundwork, on behalf of our spouses, just in case we make an early departure from this world.
Somehow I could not imagine Mrs. Boozer being able to cope with making the necessary application.

So my wife needs to have a NI number to obtain State Pension when she reaches 60-65. If this is correct how does one obtain the said number here ? I can't really understand why they pay some allowances abroad and not others ie Industrial Injuries Benefit is paid for life anywhere in the world.

[Richard Littlejohn]

Your wife will not get an NI number while she is still in Thailand. There are two ways to claim benefit, Ivor. You can do it properly & recieve a pittance, or you can fiddle it (undetected) & make a small fortune. I've got the low down on both methods from my previous incarnation as a rouge of the night.

I've got access to a subscription-only website for any answers you might need.

[Richard Littlejohn]

CPAG's Online Services

All the answers ^

You can have seven days free access.

[Ivor Biggun]

Thank you for that.

[Richard Littlejohn]

^
Happy to help.

I've got a mate with the inside track at the DSS & I'll call him around lunchtime & find out exactly what's what. I believe Thetyim is looking into it too & he's sure you can obtain a NI number from Thailand.

[Richard Littlejohn]

Been onto my mate & he reckons the only way for a Thai wife to get a NI number is to present herself in person at the social with a letter from an employer stating that she needs one for a job.

He could be wrong but I doubt it.

[Thetyim]

He could be wrong but I doubt it.

Well he is wrong but it depends on why you want one.
We have two subjects being discussed here, one is child benefit and the other pension.

In order to get the married man's pension your thai wife must have an NI number. To apply in UK for NI she must have a settlement visa a tourist visa won't suffice. Make sure she does not 'qualify' for a settlement visa and then argue your case. You will have to argue a bit but they have issued them before.

Sorry I was a bit hasty there saying he was wrong. The rules here present you with a brickwall and you have to force an exception

[Ivor Biggun]

So what's being said here is "if my wife doesn't go and live in the UK then when I die my State, old age, Pension dies with me and she gets nothing ?" Not even the Widows Pension ?

[Thetyim]

^ Yes. That's why it is important to argue your point and get to someone who can authorise an exception.

[Ivor Biggun]

^ Yes. That's why it is important to argue your point and get to someone who can authorise an exception.

Sorry but how can argue after you're dead ? If you argue before you die who can authorise an excemption ? Sorry about asking too many questions but I'm not the sharpest knife in the box at times.

[Richard Littlejohn]

She will get nothing at all if she doesn't aquire a NI number before you die. She can't do this from Thailand.

What I say is more in the money department as I know absolutely nothing about visas & such, but if she doesn't get herself here, in the UK & physically attend an interview of some sort she can't get the number.

I said this before, there is more than one way to skin a cat when it comes to dealing with the DHSS & the best way to get the money you are owed (for all the years you've put in) is to manipulate the system - ie. fiddle it.

It just depends on whether you're prepared to lie?

The simplest way (& I'm sorry for sounding abrubt) is to simply not inform the DSS when you die, as they will keep paying that pension into your bank account until they see a death cert. & you're Mrs will get that.

[Thetyim]

Well obviously you cannot argue after you are dead .
The problem will surface when you reach 65 and can only get a single man pension. You and I will have to fight this thing out unless they change the rules.

[Thetyim]

The simplest way (& I'm sorry for sounding abrubt) is to simply not inform the DSS when you die, as they will keep paying that pension into your bank account until they see a death cert. & you're Mrs will get that.

If I am forced to then I will do that. I am led to believe that the DHSS will write every year to confirm my continued existence after a certain age.
I will leave my wife 100 signed letter heads

[Richard Littlejohn]

[I will leave my wife 100 signed letter heads

Job done!

Not a hint of guilt anywhere & she can probably get the Dr's notes for 100 baht a throw

[Seekingasylum]

Given the increasing number of retired Brits settled in their retirement in the LoS it will only be a matter of time before a pensions inspector is attached to the Embassy whose purpose it will be to investigate the veracity of ' live ' pensions.

There is no escape so perhaps it's best to dispell those illusions now and make a rather more realistic provision for loved ones before clogs are popped.

[Ivor Biggun]

Given the increasing number of retired Brits settled in their retirement in the LoS it will only be a matter of time before a pensions inspector is attached to the Embassy whose purpose it will be to investigate the veracity of ' live ' pensions.

There is no escape so perhaps it's best to dispell those illusions now and make a rather more realistic provision for loved ones before clogs are popped.

There would be no need for a pensions inspector to be based here, as all it would take is a computer link up to Immigration. I hope I haven't done someone out of a job ?