State pension for expats and foreigners

blueton

According to the press the Government are looking at stopping State Pensions for foreign spouses that have not worked in Britain. It looks like at the moment they qualify for a State Pension if their husband has paid NIC in the UK, but new rules will stop this.

Does anyone understand the rules that apply in this situation:

I have paid NIC all my working life and when I retire in 10 years time I will have enough contributions for a full State Pension.

My wife is not British but has residency. She worked in the UK for 2 years and paid NIC. She then stopped work to raise a family.

We have now left the UK and I work overseas. I have carried on paying NIC while overseas to make sure I will have enough qualifying years for a full State Pension.

Should my wife carry on making yearly NIC contribuitons while we are outside the UK? Will my wife qualify for a full State Pension too?

Thank you!

atush

As far as I understand, and there are links on the other thread about this, she will have 2 years NICS plus Nics for the years she got CB up to age 12/16 for the youngest child (it changed recently so will depend on the birth date of the children). This will not be taken away.

Plus, there is talk of current spouses protection, who live in the UK being retained/protected but I dont' know if this is true or not. She should get a current SP forecast. This protection would not be given to foreign spouses outside the UK who have never had their own contributions.

Future foreign spouses would not get the 60% SP on spousal contributions even if resident in the UK.

But we await clarification on this point.

If she does not have the 60% protected, and her years are less than 20, she could either work going forwards or she could pay voluntary contributions as current women who do not work, nor claim home responsibilities protection as their children are over 12, are invited to do.

blueton

atush wrote: »

As far as I understand, and there are links on the other thread about this, she will have 2 years NICS plus Nics for the years she got CB up to age 12/16 for the youngest child (it changed recently so will depend on the birth date of the children). This will not be taken away.

Plus, there is talk of current spouses protection, who live in the UK being retained/protected but I dont' know if this is true or not. She should get a current SP forecast. This protection would not be given to foreign spouses outside the UK who have never had their own contributions.

Future foreign spouses would not get the 60% SP on spousal contributions even if resident in the UK.

But we await clarification on this point.

If she does not have the 60% protected, and her years are less than 20, she could either work going forwards or she could pay voluntary contributions as current women who do not work, nor claim home responsibilities protection as their children are over 12, are invited to do.

I think even if she worked going forwards it would not help as we are not living in the UK (I assume when you suggested work you meant work in the UK and pay NI on the income).

Yes there are a some years NI showing but nowhere near enough years for the full state Pension. But I was not sure if now we have moved abroad whether my wife should carry on making NI contributions and if she did, whether that would insure she was entitled to her own UK State Pension. Just to clarify, she got residency in the UK, but we have both since left the UK to live abroad.

atush

She should, if she had contributed NICS in the past as a legal resident, be able to pay voluntary contributions while abroad going forwards.

Was she living in the UK when she was raising the children?

Did she get CB?

Do you both intend to retire in the UK/EU? does she have a pension record in her country (is it EU?)

blueton

atush wrote: »

She should, if she had contributed NICS in the past as a legal resident, be able to pay voluntary contributions while abroad going forwards.

Was she living in the UK when she was raising the children?

Did she get CB?

Do you both intend to retire in the UK/EU? does she have a pension record in her country (is it EU?)

Yes she contributed to NICs while working in the UK as a legal resident.
Yes she was living in the UK while raising the children.
I don't know if she / we got Child Benefit. Would it have been paid to my wife specifically, or to me, or both of us? I was earning so we would not have claimed any special benefits or support, but I think Child Benefit was one of those benefits that was paid to all regardless of their means? So on Child Benefit I am not sure.
I don't know where we will retire. At the moment we are in the EU but we may decide to retire outside the EU. Will where we decide to retire make a difference to my wife's right to a UK State Pension - (or mine for that matter) even if we have paid our NICS?

atush

I am from outside the EU.

when I arrived and signed up for CB, I actually had to go do it. Otherwise, it would not have been paid. But, not sure how it works when children are born in the UK (my twins were one when we moved back to the UK).

Surely one of you must remember? It is normally the wife/mother who applies for it/gets paid it, but it can be paid to either parent.

It is a shame if you didn't, as you would have had that extra money every week?

blueton

Yes I have checked and my wife did get Child Benefit. So the answers are now:
Yes she contributed to NICs while working in the UK as a legal resident.
Yes she was living in the UK while raising the children.
Yes she got Child Benefit.
Yes she also has a pension record in a non-EU country (where she previously worked many years ago and her employers had to make social payments for all employees).
We are in the EU now but not sure where we will settle at retirement age.

What does this mean in terms of whether my wife (and me too with regard to where we may decide to settle?) will be entitled to a State Pension and should continue making voluntary NIC?

atush

Start by asking for a pension forcast for both of you. It will say what entitlement you have (and in both cases will include any S2P or Serps). You both clearly have entitlement in both your names.

You will need 35 years from 2016 for a full pension.

i do not know of the mechanism. but the EU does have the facility where years in another EU country can be addled to your UK pension or vice versa so look into that.

check the min number of contribs in your OH country. I am from the US and needed 10 years or more to get a state pension entitlement. If she does not have the required years, check if you can pay for extra to make the min

blueton

atush wrote: »

Start by asking for a pension forcast for both of you. It will say what entitlement you have (and in both cases will include any S2P or Serps). You both clearly have entitlement in both your names.

You will need 35 years from 2016 for a full pension.

i do not know of the mechanism. but the EU does have the facility where years in another EU country can be addled to your UK pension or vice versa so look into that.

check the min number of contribs in your OH country. I am from the US and needed 10 years or more to get a state pension entitlement. If she does not have the required years, check if you can pay for extra to make the min

What is an OH country? Do you mean you needed to pay 10 years UK NICS to get a UK State Pension, but for citizens of other countries different numbers of years apply? I assume that 10 years NICS is for a reduced State Pension because UK citizens now have to pay 35 years NICS for a full UK State Pension?

srcandas

margaretclare wrote: »

Wouldn't it be more logical to claim retirement pension in whatever country you choose to spend your retirement years in? Or is that too obvious?

As I understand the rules you claim in the last country where you worked (made contributions). They then sort out contributions from the various countries where you may have built up entitlement.

From a previous post by Xylophone in 2012: "Where should I apply?

Even if you have worked in several countries, you should apply for your pension in the country where you live, unless you never worked there. In the latter case, you should apply in the country where you last worked."

Of course the level of contribution, retirement age, pension levels all come into play.

So my spanish wife has 28 years entitlement built up in Spain but now works in the UK and will have built up 10 years here. So she will try to claim in the UK. Her spanish entitlement should begin a year later. But as Spain will be bankrupt by then who knows!!!

I believe in some countries your pension does not increase with inflation. This is not the case I believe in the EU (while we brits remain in it ).

HTH but do try official sources :beer:

atush

So, if you are living and working in an EU country, you can add your UK Nics to the ones in the country you are living in and will retire in to make a total number. So you would need to look at number of years required there. If you want to retire in the UK, then you might want to come back and work a full year first?

And yes, OH= other half