1. This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. Learn More.

Pension for Filipina wife, advice please

Discussion in 'Migrating to the Philippines' started by Geoff, Oct 8, 2022.

  1. Geoff
    Offline

    Geoff Member

    Hello

    I moved to Cavite 4 years ago, bought a house and married my wife here.
    I was told by a filipino friend that I should register my marriage with the British Embassy as my wife will then be entitled to my pension when I die. I contacted the Embassy and was told there is no need to register the marriage as it is not recognised in the UK.
    Is this correct? Thanks
  2. Jim
    Offline

    Jim Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    If you're taking about your state pension then your wife will not be entitled to your state pension when you die. State pension ends when you die.
    Private pension I don't know.
  3. oss
    Offline

    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    The rules on all this changed quite a few years ago now, the only way a wife would get entitlement to a UK state pension is to have spent at least 10 years working in the UK and paying national insurance, there is something called "Bereavement Support Payment" but out of country I am not sure she would qualify for that. Widows’ pensions & bereavement support explained | Raisin UK

    Regards Jim's point about private pensions, the rules there depend on the pension scheme, Defined Benefit Pension schemes (also known as final salary pensions) will usually have a death benefit and might provide a reduced pension to the bereaved partner but they all have different rules and you have to consult your scheme trustees, if there are benefits you need to fill in a nomination form for your scheme namign your wife, I have a small Defined Benefit Pension which I am in reciept of and I have nominated my daughter to receive the very reduced benefit that continues to be paid after I die, she will only get that if I die before she turns 18 and she will only get it up to age 18.

    Regards private defined contribution pension schemes, it gets more complicated, if you are retired already and are already drawing a private pension then how you are drawing on that pension is what matters, if you took a lump sum and chose an annuity then the pension money dies with you unless the annuity was provided with a guarentee, this is usually a limited number of years like a 5 year guarentee to pay out to your dependants again it is usually a reduced amount compared to what you were receiving from the annuity.

    If however when you retired you decided to take a lump sum and then chose to use an Income Drawdown Plan for your pension funds then your pension money is part of your estate for as long as you are drawing down, in drawdown your funds are still invested and exposed to stock market movement price risks and basically if you have enough you can choose how much to take i.e. how much of your fund you want to cash in each year and take as income, that income is UK taxable. If you die during drawdown the total valu of your remaining funds become part of your estate and can be passed to your wife or children but you will need to draw up a will that makes you wishes quite clear.

    Also Wills get complicated once you are dealing with international assets, as far as I can make out you really need to make a Will in each country, and you would probably have to appoint a professional executor in advance to handle the UK Will which would be needed to manage any UK pension which had been in drawdown. Make a Will in the Philippines to deal with any assets you might own there although it's unlikely given Phillipine law that you have any assets in your own name anyway.

    edit: I looked at your profile Geoff and you declare yourself to be 76 years old so you will be well into any pension provision you made for yourself by now, I hope maybe you are in a drawdown solution but if you are not then the only really good outcome is likely to be if you had a final salary pension but it is likely to be still very limited.
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2022
  4. Mattecube
    Offline

    Mattecube face the sunshine so shadows fall behind you Trusted Member

    On marriage recognition question

    The Philippine Embassy issues Marriage Licenses and solemnises marriages at the chancery. However, marriages solemnised at the Philippine Embassy may not be recognised by UK Government authorities in accordance with the provisions of the UK Marriage Act

    Is
    my marriage legally Recognised in the UK?


    Your marriage or civil partnership will be recognised in the UK if both of the following apply: you followed the correct process in the country where you got married. it would be allowed under UK law.
    • Like Like x 1
  5. Nickel
    Offline

    Nickel Active Member

    Your marriage in the Philippines o
    To answer about private pension,it still depends on age difference.
    I get 78% of my husbands pension ,but if the difference is half the age,its only 50% .At times,it depends on the company.
    With state pension i did not get any.
    • Like Like x 1
  6. Jim
    Offline

    Jim Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    My wife has 10 years NI stamp with state pension so she will get 10% of the full state pension when she's 67, as it stands now. No private pension though.
  7. Br28016
    Offline

    Br28016 Active Member Trusted Member

    If 10 years then should get 10/35 or about 28% of the full state pension at age 67 depending on how old she is.
    • Agree Agree x 2
    • Like Like x 1
  8. oss
    Offline

    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Yeah agreed about £52 a week in todays money and hopefully increased in line with the triple lock as years go by.
  9. Jim
    Offline

    Jim Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    GBP Slightly up.:)

    1.00 British Pound =

    66.822445 Philippine Pesos
  10. Jim
    Offline

    Jim Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Better than a poke in the eye. She has a pension with SSS, had it about 16 years. She will get that when she's 60, plus she will be a senior and get seniors discount :)
  11. oss
    Offline

    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    That's because of inflation fears in the USA the inflation numbers came in higher this month than hoped in the US and the markets are reacting expecting interest rate rises to help compensate, I'm not sure how long this level will be held, you have traditional run up to Christmas coming and almost every year the pound tanks against the peso in the run up to Christmas as inward remitances start to flow big time, those remitances have a direct effect on the value of the peso.

    But yeah very welcome I hope it holds around this level for another 10 days for my remitance to the kids.

    edit: just noticed the news saying that part of the rise in the pound is talk of a mini-budget U-Turn :)
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2022
    • Like Like x 1
  12. oss
    Offline

    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    And she won't be taxed on her British State Pension in the Philippines when she finally qualifies and I believe Philippine SSS pensions are still untaxed at this time.

    Are you treated as a senior over there Jim, do you get any discounts?
  13. Jim
    Offline

    Jim Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Some say the senior discount is for Filipino citizens only, so no I don't ask for discount and won't apply for discount card. I know some expats have a discount card and use it.
    But I use the seniors line at the banks and stores etc.;)
  14. John Surrey
    Offline

    John Surrey Well-Known Member

    That isn't my understanding... when I looked at it for my wife... I read that if you were born before 1951 (which Geoff was) then the Filipina wife would be entitled to some or all of the State Pension...

    I was born later than 1951 so mine will get nothing - would have been better for my wife to marry my father :D

    Having said that, was a while ago that I looked at it, have they changed it again?
  15. oss
    Offline

    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    The 1951 age boundary refers to the Basic State Pension rather than the New State Pension, Geoff, if the declared age in his forum profile is correct will be on the Basic State Pension, however unless his wife is eligible in her own right for UK State Pension through having some qualifying years she will not qualify for any share or enhancement of her own pension through her husband.

    The old 'widows pension' idea disappeared a long time ago around the same time that the married persons tax allowance vanished, just checked it stopped 9th of April 2001, it applied to a spouse aged over 45 if their partner passed away, my aunt Etta used to get this when her husband Jack died from cancer in the early 1960s.
    Last edited: Oct 15, 2022
  16. Jim
    Offline

    Jim Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Just had another look.
    Inheriting basic State Pension | nidirect
  17. Mattecube
    Offline

    Mattecube face the sunshine so shadows fall behind you Trusted Member

    • Agree Agree x 1
  18. John Surrey
    Offline

    John Surrey Well-Known Member

    Thanks...

    So my wife's filipina "friend", who is still getting her UK deceased husband's pension, probably just forgot to notify them of the change in circumstances do you think?
  19. oss
    Offline

    oss Somewhere Staff Member

    Probably but she will get caught out eventually as they have a "proof of life" requirement every other year.
  20. Jim
    Offline

    Jim Well-Known Member Trusted Member

    Still waiting for mine, I did it over the phone last time because of COVID-19.
    It takes months to get here in Negros Oriental and even longer to go back. Some British expats have sent theirs back using a courier service like DHL or LBC.

Share This Page