Life certificate for pension

I am from Denmark, And we have to do it every year when on a state pension.
Some insurance company all so want us to do it once a year.

It is pretty simple for Danish people to get it done.

2 Thai witness, I use my Thai wife and one of her parent to sign my paper.
Or
Get the local police to stamp it.
Or
Get the Immigration to stamp it.
Or
Get my Embassy to stamp it.

Scan the paper in, and E-Mail it back home, In Denmark we have a special E-Box system to insure that the person send it, Is the person they state want it from.
(Don´t know how to explain it in English.)

Some national and some private schemes require a "life certificate" each year. You would need to approach each pension provider to ask about their protocol. Sometimes it is a form that needs completing and endorsing and others a personal letter that is witnessed that may suffice.

cthierrymk wrote:

Many countries request from their expat to provide a life certificate in order to get their state pension paid into their account.

Payments can be suspended if life certificate is not provided.

If you are in this case, please could you explain the procedure you follow, do you need a witness ? Who can sign this document ? Who provide this document : embassy, or state pension of your home country ? If you work in different countries before becoming expat in Thailand do you have to duplicate this procedure to claim in each country ?

Thanks for sharing any of your experiences

Now there's an interesting topic. I reckon you must be writing a book or setting up a web site about Thailand given some of the "questions" you pose

Anyway joking apart the UK pensions authority do require life certificates from time to time. I received such a request last December.

The actual procedure is straight forward(a simple form) plus certified true copy of your passport,  however finding a suitable person to certify your life is not so easy since the UK provide a list which does not include friends and family!!

I would normally suggest using a "notary public" for such services however in Thailand there are no "notary public" as such because Thailand does not subscribe to one of the Hague Conventions, however the Lawyers Association of Thailand do certify members to act as  "notary public."

I got one such local lawyer to sign my life certificate and certify I was still breathing. Cost me 500 Baht then I mailed the certificate + copy of passport + a copy of lawyers certification back to International Pensions Centre in the UK by registered email. Job done, Well that's the short version anyway.

Any UK pensioners might like to read a more in depth article on life certificates on my blog as it covers some of the pitfalls that can be encountered.

Here is an extract from the UK Pension Service letter stating who may sign your form:

The person who signs the life certificate should not be related to you by birth or marriage, not live at the ame address as you and should be a professional person or a person of good standing in the community.

    Examples of the type of person that would be suitable include:

        bank/building society official or accountant
        barrister, solicitor or other person allowed to manage oaths in the country where the declaration is made
        doctor, dentist, physiotherapist or pharmacist
        government official or local mayor
        the equivalent of a magistrate, Justice of the Peace or member of the local police force
        minister of religion
        care home/nursing home manager

If you are unsure then please contact us at once as the life certificate will be returned to you to be signed by someone else if the person you have chosen is not of sufficient standing.

Incidentally the British Embassy will no longer provide these services so if you do not use a  "notary public" you might need to get creative!

Thanks all for your sharing, no I am not written any blog, book or website.

Some of these topics sometimes are shared in  the french area of Expat.com but not in the english side, and I think it may help for the future retired to understand the requirement. Sure everybody can google the state pension of their country and ask precisions. I am not yet to this step of claiming a pension ....