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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.’’

willowsend wrote:

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

I can see that Brian!! what I was asking is do you know of this Lawyer? have you used them? or are they just a company you found on the internet?

tonyb60 wrote:

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.

I think you got a bit tongue tied here

Tony, did you not read all of the text,
as a retired tutor I would have thought that it was easy to draw your own conclusions
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

krypton wrote:

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

Good question krypton. Can you tell us Bryan do you know this company personally ie have you had any dealings with them?

Gimp wrote:

krypton wrote:

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

Good question krypton. Can you tell us Bryan do you know this company personally ie have you had any dealings with them?

To you Gimp and krypton. The lady who sold us our villa and has been one of our translators during the last four years recommended this company. I will be paying them a visit when I next go to Bulgaria, probably February subject to weather conditions

Hi Bryan,

Yes I read it all. But in my days of a tutor when I wrote an information script it was in real down to earth English with no double meanings. Law unfortunately is a type of English often encrypted with gobble de coup and Red Indian (Talking Bo***cks). Seems like Bulgarian Law is no different. These type of documents are intended for the author rather than the recipient.

At the end of the day there seems to be a common thread, that is, all Wills must be hand written by the Testator. Testator = the person likely to die. Another common trend is that they must also be written in Bulgarian as well as English in a particular style by a translator who stamps the document and signs. The other thing that seems to be apparent is that a notary can write a Will but only after it has been hand written, witnessed by two people then kept in storage with the notary.

My advice is that, whatever people decide to do they should keep their own copy, plus if they have a will in the UK have the Bulgarian Will (copy of) kept with it.

I have not done so much research on a subject in many a year ha ha.

Tony

Tony

I will be going back to my lawyer in the New Year. When I bought my property I asked about the procedure for my partner to inherit the house and I wrote a note to this effect which was then lodged with the Notary who dealt with the house purchase and residency. However, our then lawyer stopped practising and I have no idea if this Notary is also still in business. Our present lawyer was recommended to us as a friend of the past one. She has been very helpful over re-registration etc and has not overcharged from what I have read. I guess when I go back I should produce my copy of the receipt for this handwritten document and hope she knows this Notary.
I actually only found out that our lawyer had retired to have a baby through another Brit which seemed odd although she had been absolutely marvellous in all our dealings previously. Still, only in Bulgaria eh? The right hand doesn't seem to know what the left hand is doing but I suppose everything is so new to them after the fall of Communism and entry into the EU. I really think that the EU should sort this inheritance problem out for all countries and stop worrying about lesser things like the size and shape of fruit!

I suppose everything is so new to them after the fall of Communism
That was 20 years ago oldun, how much longer do they need

How long is a piece of string Brian even the simplest of things seem to take a life time so this isn't going to be easily sorted I don't think

Hi folks and greetings from a newbie!

I see that you have some problems with interpreting Bulgarian Inheritance Law. I hope that I will be able to help you with your issues. Feel free to ask me any specific questions.

Cheers

Emil

Hello Emil and welcome you may want to introduce yourself in the new member introduction forum, but I feel there will be many questions here for you

Welcome Emil and thank you for coming along and offering to help with any questions our members may have? as Bigsavak has said I'm sure there will be a few for you

welcome Emil, Im sure there will be many questions.

in the uk, when you make a will it is honoured, the assests go to the named people in that will.

in bulgaria, i believe, a will is honoured only after the reserved portion ( enforced inheritency law ) has been distributed to the heirs in line. is this true. and does this apply to non bulgarian eu citizens residing in bulgaria. thankyou.

starlite wrote:

in bulgaria, i believe, a will is honoured only after the reserved portion ( enforced inheritency law ) has been distributed to the heirs in line. is this true.

Yes, this is true. However it can be distributed immediately - and that won't be unlawful if it doesn't harm anybody's reserved portion. And a simple example - if there are three houses, one of which is the reserved portion, you can very quickly become legitimate owner of the other 2 houses. Another scenario is also possible - you can get your hands on all three houses and then the person whose reserved portion has been harmed could take you to court.

starlite wrote:

does this apply to non bulgarian eu citizens residing in bulgaria. thankyou.

Yes, for real estates, it does.