Finding a foreign pension in an estate: a guide for executors.

For executors, administrators, estate lawyers and probate firms handling the estate of someone who worked in more than one country.

The short answer

A foreign pension in an estate is found country by country, and inside each country the state pension and any workplace pension are separate searches. Tell each state pension body of the death, ask each one whether a survivor benefit is payable and to whom, and ask each workplace scheme whether the person was a member and whether anything is payable after death. Every body will ask for a certified death certificate and proof of who you are and why you are asking; some want that proof issued or resealed in their own country.

If you want to know first which of the deceased's countries are likely to hold something, our free check has options for "Someone who has died" and "A client".

Why foreign pensions are easy to miss in an estate

A pension built up abroad rarely shows up in the papers an executor reviews first. There may be no recent statement, the employer may have been renamed or sold, and the scheme may now be run by an administrator whose name the family has never seen.

Two things make it harder after a death:

1. The online portals are personal. National pension portals sign people in with their own digital ID: DigiD in the Netherlands, MyGovID in Ireland, the German eID, myGov in Australia, Cl@ve in Spain, an SSA account in the US. An executor cannot use the deceased's login, so the work goes through letters, phone calls and local offices.
2. Some rules run from the date of death. Survivor benefits in several countries have application windows that start on the day the person died.

What to ask for, in every country

For each country, ask three questions:

1. Is there a state pension record, and was anything being paid? If the deceased was already drawing a pension, the body must be told of the death.
2. Is a survivor benefit payable? State schemes in many countries pay something to a surviving spouse, partner or children, on their own conditions.
3. Was the person in a workplace scheme, and is anything payable after death? Whether a workplace scheme pays anything after a death, and to whom, depends on that scheme's own rules. Only the scheme can answer.

Tax on anything found is a separate question for the estate's tax adviser. This guide covers identification only.

Country by country: where an executor starts

More detail for each country: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Ireland, Germany, Australia, Spain, United States. What national pension bodies have told us in writing, including the Australian and Spanish answers on heirs, is on our answers page.

Step by step for an executor

1. Map the working life. List every country the deceased worked in, the years, each employer's full name as it was then, the city, and any earlier names the person worked under (a maiden name, a married name, a different spelling).
2. Prepare one document pack. Certified copies of the death certificate, the grant of probate or letters of administration (or the local equivalent), your own ID, and the marriage or civil partnership certificate where a survivor benefit may apply. Ask before sending originals, and expect to need certified translations for documents not in the body's language.
3. Tell each state pension body of the death. Start with any country that was already paying a pension, since that body must be told of the death.
4. Ask about survivor benefits. Ask each state body, in writing, whether a survivor benefit exists for the spouse, partner or children, what its conditions are, and by when the application must be made. Diarise every date.
5. Find each workplace scheme. Use the country's tracing service or register where there is one. Where there is none, write to the employer or the company that took it over. Ask each scheme two things: was the person a member, and is anything payable after death, to whom.
6. Check the dates. Ireland, the UK and Germany all have time limits that start on the date of death (see the table).
7. Keep a written log. Who you asked, when, by which channel, and what they said. A clean log also helps if a body later asks for the same papers twice.

When the employer was renamed, merged or sold

This is where most searches stall. Three questions get you there:

1. What did the employer become? Company registers record renames, mergers and sales. Search every version of the name in the papers, including trading names and the old legal form.
2. Which scheme took over the pension promises? When businesses merge, their schemes are often merged or moved too. One employer can lead to more than one scheme.
3. Who runs that scheme today? A register shows today's administrator. That is not always the firm that ran the scheme in the deceased's years, so ask today's administrator who ran it before them and whether old leaver records came across.

When the answer is "no record". It does not always mean nothing is there. The records may sit with an earlier administrator, or the benefit may have been paid out when the person left the job. The next step is to ask the employer, or whoever took it over, which scheme the person was in and whether a payment was made.

What to look for in the deceased's papers

• Payslips, contracts or offer letters from any employer abroad
• Letters or annual statements from a foreign pension fund, insurer or administrator, however old
• Bank statements showing payments from abroad (a pension already in payment)
• Life certificate requests from a foreign pension body
• Foreign social insurance or tax numbers: a UK National Insurance number, a Dutch BSN, an Irish PPS number, a German Rentenversicherungsnummer, an Australian TFN, a Spanish NIE or afiliación number, a US Social Security number
• Tax returns that declare foreign pension income
• Old addresses in each country (bodies use them to match records)
• Any earlier names the person worked under
• The date the person left each country
• Marriage, civil partnership and divorce papers, and the children's birth certificates (survivor benefits often turn on them)

Frequently asked questions

Can an executor find out whether the deceased had a pension abroad?

Yes. Write to the state pension body of each country the deceased worked in and to each workplace scheme you can identify, with a certified death certificate and proof of your authority. The national online portals usually need the person's own digital login, so the written route is the one that works after a death.

Does a UK grant of probate work for a pension abroad?

Not always. The Australian Taxation Office, for example, asks for an Australian grant of probate or letters of administration, or one resealed in Australia, though it says it may still help without a court grant. Ask each body what proof of authority it accepts before you send originals.

Who can get a survivor pension from another country?

It depends on the country. In the Netherlands, the Anw survivor benefit needs the survivor to be under AOW age and either caring for a child under 18 or at least 45% unable to work; in the US, a spouse, divorced spouse, child or dependent parent may qualify for Social Security survivor benefits.

Is there a deadline after a death?

Several. In Ireland, the Bereaved Partner's Contributory Pension should be applied for within three months of the death; in the UK, Bereavement Support Payment within three months for the full amount and usually within 21 months at the latest; in Germany, a survivor's pension should be applied for within one year.

What if a pension body says it has no record?

Treat it as a lead, not an end. The records may sit with an earlier administrator, the scheme may have been renamed or merged, or the benefit may have been paid out when the person left the job, so ask the employer, or whoever took it over, which scheme the person was in.

Where we fit

For many estates the official routes above are enough, and you will not need anyone's help. It gets harder when the employer has been renamed or merged, when the papers name no scheme, or when the deceased worked in several countries and nobody knows which ones hold something. That is the gap we work in: we identify which schemes and bodies are likely to hold a pension in the person's name and give you the route to each one. The executor or the family signs and sends every letter; we hold no authority to act for anyone and give no legal, tax or financial advice.

Start with the free check

Enter the countries the person worked in and roughly when. Choose "Someone who has died", or "A client" if you are acting for an estate. The check shows which countries are likely to hold a pension, the free official route for each, and any date to know.

Run the free check

Want to see what a full report looks like first? Here is a sample report.

For firms that meet this often. If your practice regularly handles estates with a working life abroad, we would be glad to talk about how we can help your team. Write to hello@pensionhunter.ai.

The PensionHunter Team