Pension Advice
Discussion
Never thought I'd be using Pistonheads for financial advice..........
My Mum is struggling financially and is unable to claim her full pension because whilst she was living in overseas her partner, my step Dad, did not maintain her contributions. Anyhow, putting all that aside, my Mum and aforementioned step dad separated about 20 years ago and my step dad moved to Spain. In the intervening period, we are pretty sure my step dad has now passed away as he was quite ill with life threatening conditions back then. They didn't keep in touch with one another as the split was acrimonious.
My Mum has recently learnt that she can lodge a claim against his pension contributions. The problem she has encountered is that she's lost her marriage certificate and despite concerted efforts to secure a duplicate, we have discovered that the Salvation Army's record keeping in Zimbabwe leaves a lot to be desired. So we've hit a bit of a brick wall. Essentially this means my Mum can't prove she was ever married to my step dad, even though they were for the best part of 20 years. We do have photos of the ceremony in Harare though ha! But we've reached the stage now of not knowing which way to turn next. I'm thinking we have a sit down meeting with the DWP but want to ensure I've done as much as possible in the background to help deliver as positive an outcome as possible.
Would this special community have any pearls of wisdom please?
My Mum is struggling financially and is unable to claim her full pension because whilst she was living in overseas her partner, my step Dad, did not maintain her contributions. Anyhow, putting all that aside, my Mum and aforementioned step dad separated about 20 years ago and my step dad moved to Spain. In the intervening period, we are pretty sure my step dad has now passed away as he was quite ill with life threatening conditions back then. They didn't keep in touch with one another as the split was acrimonious.
My Mum has recently learnt that she can lodge a claim against his pension contributions. The problem she has encountered is that she's lost her marriage certificate and despite concerted efforts to secure a duplicate, we have discovered that the Salvation Army's record keeping in Zimbabwe leaves a lot to be desired. So we've hit a bit of a brick wall. Essentially this means my Mum can't prove she was ever married to my step dad, even though they were for the best part of 20 years. We do have photos of the ceremony in Harare though ha! But we've reached the stage now of not knowing which way to turn next. I'm thinking we have a sit down meeting with the DWP but want to ensure I've done as much as possible in the background to help deliver as positive an outcome as possible.
Would this special community have any pearls of wisdom please?
That's easier said than done unfortunately. We are sure he moved around Spain but are unsure of his last location. My wife received a message from someone claiming to be my step dad's friend following some Facebook super sleuthing telling us he had passed. But nothing categorical. They never divorced...which I found strange but who am I to say.....
Rufus Stone said:
Not being divorced is fairly common.
I assume you are referring to any state widows pension that may be available. Was your ex father in law old enough to claim his state pension? If so, HMRC may well already know he has died.
I am. And he was claiming his full state pension. Would HMRC advise if he was? DPA a helluva wall to leap these days.I assume you are referring to any state widows pension that may be available. Was your ex father in law old enough to claim his state pension? If so, HMRC may well already know he has died.
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