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[size=55:wzymimhp]Opp 29 September 2010

Overseas residents prefer to bank at home

Two thirds of British expats believe that UK banks are better than those available in their country of residence and that sterling will prove a better bet than the Euro, according to a major new survey out this week from Lloyds TSB Bank.

Four times as many responders believing that sterling is stronger for their savings than the euro and many UK overseas residents maintain ties with their homeland. 79% hold their money in sterling and over half still holding a UK current account.

Two thirds of expats believe that British banks are better than those available in their country of residence (62%). Furthermore when asked which services they still used a British provider for, 83% of the responses were financial services related including banking products, pensions and insurance. Very few respondents felt that they needed a British provider for other services for example legal (five per cent) or healthcare (five per cent) according to a new survey[1] commissioned by Lloyds TSB International. Additionally despite almost 90% of respondents having been abroad for over five years, over half (55%) still maintain a UK current account and 80% still holding money in sterling.

Jakob Pfaudler, Managing Director of Lloyds TSB International, said: “It’s good to see confidence in the British banking system is returning. Britain's economy is showing continued signs of progress, with consumer confidence returning and businesses beginning to invest again. At the same time, the British banking system has returned to profitability, which will enable it to support and underpin the economic recovery.’’

The survey of British expats, living in France, Hong Kong, Spain, South Africa, UAE and USA, also shows that confidence in sterling is high in comparison with other currencies, with four times (44% versus 11%) as many respondents believing that sterling is stronger than the euro for their savings. Only three per cent of those now living abroad cite weakness in sterling as a factor most likely to contribute to having to return home early.

Jakob Pfaudler continued, “It is also reassuring to see that so many British expats are confident in the future of sterling which, after depreciating over the past few years, has stabilised as the economic recovery has taken hold and measures to improve the public finances have been laid out. In part their behaviour has been a reflection on what has occurred in the wider financial markets with the flight from more indebted economies.’’

this reserved portion never goes away.

Maybe if this lawyer comes on to the forum we can all get some long awaited answers fingers crossed

One of the few restrictions is that the testator can dispose through the will with the whole of his property but the testamentary dispositions in all the cases cannot infringe the reserved part. According to Art.29 of the Inheritance Act the reserved portion of descendants (including the adopted), when the legator has not left spouse, shall be: in case of one child and descendants from him – 1/2 and in case of two and more children or descendants from them – 2/3 of the possession of the legator. The reserved portion of the parents or only the outlived of them is 1/3. The reserved portion of the spouse is 1/2, when he inherits alone and 1/3 when the legator has left also parents. When the legator has left descendants and spouse, the reserved part of the spouse is equal to the reserved part of each child. In this cases the disposable part in case of one child is equal to 1/3 and in case of two children is equal to 1/4, and in case of three and more children is equal to 1/6 of the inheritance.

I am quite used to reading H&
S Law but this to me is Greek. Can anyone translate this into simple English. It might help.

as i understand it, your stated will, will be honoured after those in line recieve what they are allowed without challenge within the rules of the enforced inheritency. those in line........are spouse, children, stepchildren and exwives. scary.

OK I think I might have taken a thick pill :Hair: :Hair: :Hair:

Surely this thing about spouses children dog cat and exwives is only applicable to someone that has not made a Will. That was what I was given to understand.

Hence why it is important to do so.

tonyb60 wrote:

OK I think I might have taken a thick pill :Hair: :Hair: :Hair:

Surely this thing about spouses children dog cat and exwives is only applicable to someone that has not made a Will. That was what I was given to understand.

not so ,unfortunately....I believe you will find

I keep waiting for someone to tell me, ive got it all wrong. but they dont.

Nobody can tell you your wrong because they don't know any better but maybe we need some with legal knowledge to be able to sort this out, we can hope that the company that Ashley has contacted joins in here and tries to help us all and give us the answers we need

:Xmas1:

You are right guys it is totally baffling and the more you look into it the worse it seems to be getting. From a legal point of view a will can be contested by anyone ever the mother of the ex wife/husband etc.

Oddy :Xmas1:

Where has the forum Bulgarianlawyer gone to answer all the questions?
Having made a trip to my bank on another matter I mentioned about Wills again. Surprise, surprise she gave me a different answer because she had forwarded the question to Sofia. She now advised me to see my lawyer but also said that the law of Inheritance would still be in place as in Bulgarian law. That is, children first etc. She thought it would be possible to lodge my Will with the lawyer giving my children's names and that of my partner. I am thinking that in my UK Will I would make a proviso for my children regarding my partner's right to inheritance to make sure. This should cover all eventualities. Or will it????
POA was mentioned but you have to give a date for it to finish so we all have to know when we are going to die or renew it on a regular basis which would prove costly I think.
If you Google 'Ineritance law Bulgaria' it is pages long and even more confusing than what is written here so I guess its best to make your own decision on the way to go. First stop, the lawyer.

Some very good points raised here and your right oldun there is pages of information but its written in an alien language to me why can't they just simply write how we all understand anyway I see you say the Lawyer is the first step but which one? because depending who you see will depend on the answer your given, we do have a lawyer already on here but he doesn't come on too often so maybe the law firm that Ashley has contacted might help but its a huge mine field from what I can see and then I also believe that whatever you decide to go with will also depend on where you live since as we all know that the law will change from one region to another no matter what the EU says they seem to set their laws over a few glasses of fore water at the local.

sarah

:Howdy:Does this help folk

[size=150:3sjspltp]Wills and Inheritance Law in Bulgaria
A Bulgarian will :Busy:can be made by any person who:

has reached 18 years of age
is not under full judicial disability
can act reasonably
Types of Wills in Bulgaria :Study:
According to the Bulgarian legislation, the following types of will exist:

Notarial will
Personally handwritten will
Notarial will
The notarial will must be executed by a notary in the presence of two witnesses in the following way:

The testator expresses their will to the notary verbally.
The notary writes the will as it is expressed and reads it back to the testator in the presence of the two witnesses.
The notary records the date and the place of making the will.
The will is signed by the testator, the witnesses and the notary.
Personally handwritten will
The personally handwritten will must be entirely hand written by the testator. It must state the date it is written and be signed by the testator at the bottom of the document.

The personally handwritten will is then sealed in an envelope and given to a notary for safe keeping. This has to be done in the following way:

The notary makes a Protocol (a notarial, legal record) over the sealed envelope containing the will
The Protocol is signed by the will maker and the notary
The notary enters the Protocol in a special register
For contact information on local notaries able to help in the creation and registration of wills, see the lex.bg website (in Bulgarian).
Reserved Part
It is important to note that descendants (children, grandchildren and so on), parents and the spouse of the testator are entitled to a reserved part of the inherited estate. The testator is not entirely free to make a will without leaving some property to these people.

Foreigners and Wills in Bulgaria
A foreigner may make a Bulgarian will if:

the will is related to immovable property located in Bulgaria and owned by the foreigner,
the will is related to movable property owned by the foreigner, and they have a habitual residence in Bulgaria
Inheritance Law in Bulgaria
Matters of inheritance are regulated by the Succession Act. According to Bulgarian law, the following ways of inheritance exist:

Inheritance by law
Testamentary inheritance/Inheritance by will
Inheritance by law
Inheritance by law is regulated by Bulgarian legislation and is applicable under the following circumstances:

If the foreigner owns immovable property located in Bulgaria
If the foreigner owns movable property and has a habitual residence in Bulgaria
The foreigner may choose for the inheritance to be entirely arranged by the law of the country of which he is a national citizen at the moment he made his choice.

Reserved heirs and intestacy
In the case of intestacy - a person dying without a will - the following heirs (in the order below) are entitled to receive a part of the inheritance:

children and the spouse
the parents and the spouse (if the deceased has left no children or other descendants)
the ascendants from second or higher degree and the spouse (if the deceased has left parents)
brothers and sisters and the spouse (if the deceased has left no children and no parents)
A person may not inherit by law or by will if they were not yet conceived at the moment of opening the inheritance, if they were conceived but did not survive birth or if there are not permitted to inherit under special provisions of Bulgarian law.

Bulgarian Inheritance Tax
Inheritance tax is levied on:

the properties of Bulgarian citizens in the country or abroad inherited by law or will
the properties of foreign citizens in Bulgaria inherited by law or will
Inheritance tax is paid by the heirs (whether they inherit by law or by will). Inheritance tax is not paid by the surviving spouse and by lineal heirs without restriction.

Each heir must submit a declaration to the municipality in which the testator had their last residence. If they had no residence in Bulgaria then the declaration is submitted to the municipality of the area where most of the property comprising the inheritance is.

The Inheritance tax rate is determined by each municipality independently, within the following limits:

0,4 % - 0,8 % brothers, sisters and their children: for a share of the inheritance over 250,000 Bulgarian levs
3,3 % - 6,6% Other cases: for a share of the inheritance over 250,000 Bulgarian levs


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Information supplied by Tax Com Ltd, 5 Nikola Vaptsarov Str., Floor 5, Office 501, Varna 9000
Tel: 052 712 381 / 052 712 382, Fax: 052 712 383
e-mail Website
Managing Director: Mr Delyan Sarov

:Wav:This is the best I could find in plain straight forward English

Is this information from your own Lawyer? or just something you found on the internet ?

krypton wrote:

Is this information from your own Lawyer? or just something you found on the internet ?

Information supplied by Tax Com Ltd, 5 Nikola Vaptsarov Str., Floor 5, Office 501, Varna 9000
Tel: 052 712 381 / 052 712 382, Fax: 052 712 383
e-mail Website
Managing Director: Mr Delyan Sarov

Clear as mud

You can also write a will in your own hand and have it translated and stamped and sealed by a registered translator.

What a muckin fuddle.