learningcurve

I can tell you what I know from my experience from several years ago, of course things may have changed since then, and if they have I am sure someone with more up to date knowledge will tell you how things stand now.

In the begining she will have to pay UK tax on any pension coming out of the UK.  However if she does not want to pay UK tax, she can get a form from HMRC (I can not recall the name of the form), complete the form and send it to the Thai Tax Office, they will then do their stamping thing and return the form to HMRC.  She will not then pay any UK tax but will be liable for Thai tax on the pension(s).  I looked into this for the wife of a friend.  I got the form, completed it, and then could not find who to send it to at the Thai Tax Office.  As UK tax and Thai tax was about the same at the time, she decided to leave things as they were, and she pays UK tax on both pensions coming from the UK.  Before I tried to find who to send the form to at the Thai tax office I had missgivings that things would probably fall apart at this stage anyway.  So in short, she will have to pay tax either to the UK or Thai Gov.

Fred

I assisted two Thai ladies last year who were in the same position as your friends Thai wife.

First of all she does not require a NI number.

She can claim a one off berevement allowance of 2000 GBP.  She needs to apply for this allowance within 12 months of the death of her husband.  If you go onto the direct gov website and search for berevement you can download the application form.  You can complete the form on her behalf.  She will need to enclose her original marriage certificate, her husbands death certificate, and if she has been married before she must enclose her divorce certificate.  All of these doc's must be accompanied with a certified English translation.  Send them by FEDEX.  Once the claim has been rubber stamped they will post back the documents by registered mail.  The claim will take approx 4 months to process.  They will send her a UK Sterling cheque for 2000GBP.

With regards to a UK state pension.  Her husband must have been 65 years + old when he passed away and have been in receipt of his state pension.  She must be at least 45 years of age when her husband died.  The state pension is paid on a sliding scale dependant on her age.  At 45 yrs old she would recieve 28 GBP per week, increasing with her age to 90 GBP per week when she reaches 60 years of age.  If she was not 45 years old or older when her husband past away she will have to wait until she is 60 years old to make a claim.  If she remarries between now and her 60th birthday she will receive nothing.  Again, the application form can be found on the gov website.

With reference to the private pension.  You can write to the pension company stating that she is non residant in the UK and does not wish to pay UK income tax on the pension.  They will then send her a form (can not recall the name of the form).  She will need to complete the form and then have the Thai Tax Office rubber stamp the form, it is then send back to the Inland Revenue.  Tax will then be paid on the pension to the Thai gov instead of the UK gov.  When I looked into this last year I found that the amount of tax paid is roughly the same for UK and Thailand, so deemed it not worth all the hassle of the red tape involved at the Thai Tax Office.  She will have to pay tax one way or the other.

Hope this is of help to you and your friends wife.