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Home » Reader question » Is the Thai wife of my deceased friend entitled to benefits from the Netherlands?
Dear readers,
I have a question and hope to get a clear answer. My friend passed away a few weeks ago. He is married under Thai law and has a wife and 3 children. Now there will be a letter from the SVB yesterday, about being alive, for the AOW benefit. When he died, the authorities were informed. Then why this letter?
Also the question, is his Thai widow entitled to benefits from the Netherlands?
Regards,
Eef
I know that SVB letter, which I also received when my wife passed over. It also stated the conditions under which you could receive a benefit. In many cases it is nothing.
Sometimes the widow/widower does receive a benefit, for example if minor children are involved:
https://www.svb.nl/nl/anw/
Does he already receive AOW or pension? If so, the partner can receive an 'extra' last AOW payment one more time (pension? Check with the pension fund)
https://www.svb.nl/int/nl/aow/overlijden/iemand_overleden/
Something like the widow/widower's benefit is a thing of the past. It is now assumed that both partners have had and built up an income, so that is why only in some cases the remaining partner receives something.
If he had already retired, he could have taken out voluntary insurance under the Widows and Orphans Act. In that case, his wife and children were entitled to benefits.
When he didn't have voluntary insurance, it's, alas, peanut butter.
I assume you mean the letter about being alive. That crossed with the notice of death.
I also agree with Rob V. If the man had a pension in addition to AOW, that pension fund must also receive notification of death and you will hear whether the widow and possibly the children are entitled to anything. Or you have to look up and read the policy.
The question is much too general to give a good answer. I assume that betr has unsubscribed from NL otherwise he would not have been sent a living letter. The fact that the letter does come is because the bureaucratic mills also turn very slowly in the Netherlands.
Is the TH legal marriage also registered in NL? Are the 3 children his, or only of the TH wife, or has he adopted them, or is he the foster father. Are they minor children and still living at home, etc.etc.?
Check the SVB website. Thailand is a treaty country for the SVB and has a partnership with the TH SSO. An event ANW benefit must be applied for via the TH SSO. But then he must have voluntarily insured himself, i.e. premium paid in TH since he left the Netherlands.
There may be a right to a partner's pension/Anw if the person concerned has arranged this with his pension fund. That should have happened before he himself retired and still paid pension contributions. Part of his pension is then, on request, converted into a partner's pension/Anw. Again: this does not happen automatically, only at your own request, against submission of your own pension component, and please note: not every pension fund has such a scheme,
The fact that a widow abroad receives benefits because she was married to a Dutch national has not existed since time immemorial. You have to arrange that yourself in time. For example, at the age of 55 I have already contracted a partner's pension/Anw benefit with my pension fund from the moment I pass away, regardless of the age of my TH wife at the time of my death. The payment to my TH wife is financed by me surrendering part of my retirement pension. In other words: I will receive less pension, my wife will receive a partner's pension from my death. The amount is legally bound to a certain maximum. In addition, she will eventually receive her own pension and her own AOW. The fact that all this can be done in and through NL is an absolute privilege
If we live in TH at the time of my death, she also has ThB 800K in the bank. (Plus savings, plus home, plus etc.etc.) And that's how it should be! You should take good care of your TH wife.
I agree. By the way, each partner (Thai or Dutch) must take good care of the other. But I have the impression that many couples do not think about death (iod). Understandable because it is not a pleasant subject and usually something that seems far away. So we don't often think about how to arrange things. And a few even have the opinion 'I can't do it, it's about me and if I die, my partner will figure it out'.
I think that everyone who lives here with their Thai wife should at least have a Thai will drawn up. I also think it would be wise to draw up a “what to do in the event of my death” document with the obligations to the Netherlands and the various pin codes and login names/passwords. In that document it can then be stated for each pension whether the wife is (partially) entitled to it after the death.
Clear story, but the amount in the bank will probably not be THB 800.000 but 400.000 Baht, the amount required in this case for the grant of the annual residence extension. From your response I understand that your partner will eventually be entitled to her own accrued pension and AOW in the Netherlands. If she lives in Thailand when she reaches the commencement date of her pension, I assume she will have to contact her pension fund in the Netherlands herself. This will also be the case if she can claim the partner's pension reserved for her in the event of your earlier death. My question to you is whether she, if she lives in Thailand, must report to the TH SSO herself when she has reached the WAO age. Or should she contact the SVB in the Netherlands? It would be useful if she could receive messages on her mobile via 'My Government' (with Thai SIM card/number) and had the DigiD app installed on it. With the changing commencement dates of the right to state pension, your Thai partner will have to remain alert when this applies to her, especially in the unlikely event that you die. My second question to you is therefore whether 'My Government' sends messages to a Thai mobile number. In any case, I thought, 'My Government' should be consulted at least once every 3 years. Do you know about the hat and the brim? Thanks in advance for your response.
ThB400K on the bank is fine in terms of “thai-wife-visa”. I myself do it with ThB800K, less hassle.
Every year I receive a total overview from my pension fund, including the gross and net amounts of the partner's pension. We occasionally contact the pension fund via the e-mail function of their website, partly to keep up with its skills in that direction. Thais do not like to discuss topics of death and death, afraid to call these events. So far it appears to be the opposite.
If I die in Thailand, she will notify the fund by email, including a death certificate. (see Death in Thailand file above left). She will then receive a few months' net lump sum benefit, and her partner's pension retroactively from the month of my death.
If all goes well, the SVB itself will contact her in due course, as the SVB does with every rightful claimant abroad. At the time of my state pension I lived in Thailand and received all relevant mail neatly and on time at my address in Korat. Never had any problems with them, not even with the Thai Post.
If there is no message from the SVB in due course, what are you waiting for her/me to draw the attention of the SVB herself in due course. To do this, create an account on their website.
The same is going on from her own pension fund. In time, a message will also come her way from them. She will also create an account on the website.
TH SSO only checks for SVB whether it is present in TH. For example, by stamping alive papers.
A few years ago I installed the DigiD app on her TH smartphone, and last year I installed MijnOverheidMessagesbox. Here too, the necessary explanation and information must be provided via the relevant websites. Since both apps run via WiFi or mobile data, a TH or NL SIM card is irrelevant. Occasionally logging in to the website or consulting the apps can do no harm. App's of course update on time. And most importantly: stay focused! Pass on residential and e-mail addresses and telephone numbers on time. Check your personal data every now and then. Keep in touch. Asking the relevant authority how to act in which situations and not just relying on people who know the hearsay of someone who has not seen it themselves. In short: don't assume that it will solve itself, because then it will be gone.
Dear Ruud, thank you very much for your detailed response. That Thais do not 'like' to talk about death and what comes next is completely correct, at least as far as my partner is concerned. Whenever I try to broach the subject, I invariably get the answer that there is no point in talking about it and that I will turn out to be the longest surviving person, which is very unlikely given the age difference. To my frustration, I was also little or not interested in an explanation from me about how to act to qualify for a partner's pension, in due course my own accrued pension and (partial) AOW benefit. We now both live in the Netherlands and if I die, my cousin is willing and able to assist my partner in such matters. But I don't know whether or not my partner will return to Thailand after my death. There is almost daily contact with the home front (a hard-working family of 2 sisters and 4 brothers) and sometimes there is talk of going back, but other times I am told what should I do there. I think it's time to retire, but of course I won't go into that further. Now I have tried to put as much in writing as possible with a Thai Google translation, about which I have my reservations. Based on your information I will also update it. By the way, I intend to enjoy life for many more years to come, but yes, that is not always in your control. Kind regards, Leo.
In the last paragraph/sentence the judgment is given a little too easily !!! I also only married under Thai law, because 4 years ago registering a Thai marriage was much less easy. You then had to either go to the Netherlands or send in all the original paper with the translations, which you would then lose for several months. The procedure has now been simplified, but for that I would now have to have all papers re-certified and translated again… but that investment is not convenient for me right now.