My Mother was married to my Father who was in the ...

I think you may be right about being entitled to some of his pension. I also think that it will be hard for you to go through the process of getting the money yourself. usually in such cases professional help is needed in order to resolve the situation. A good lawyer might be able to help you get some definite answers.

Good luck. 

Mom: In order for your mom to retain benefits through your dad she would need to have been married to him for more than 10 years. (whether that needs to be consecutive or not, I am not sure... you would need to contact a lawyer or the JAG office to find out for sure.) If she does qualify, she will retain the benefits until she remarries. If your dad retires, she will also be entitled to approximately half of his retirement pay as well as some other benefits as a retired divorced spouse.

You: You should definitely be able to receive some of his pension unless you signed some sort of agreement saying you waived your rights to it. Even if this were the case, I think a good lawyer could find a loophole since your health is now failing.

Good luck.

Don't be a dog about this. Soldiers work very hard for their money and spouses work hard to support them. I've been on both sides of the fence so I think both sides need to play fair.  

I am sure that you have probably done whatever you needed to do to get your situation taken care of but am adding to the above for those who will read it later.  Your mom does NOT get to keep benefits after 10 years, she can only share in his pension if they were married at least 10 years while he was on active duty. If they were married at least 15 years, she would get to keep her insurance for a year and if they were married for at least 20 then she gets to keep her benefits to medical, commissary, etc. but all have to be while he was on active duty.  If part of it was after he retired, it does not count toward the years necessary.  And half of the retired pay is half of the number of years they were married in relation to the number of years he was active duty, ie: married 10, retired 20 would give her 25% of his pay or half of half. There are good websites regarding the benefits available to spouses so just do a search for military divorce laws or benefits for divorced military spouses. There are usually even lists of attorneys in your area who know military law. Take care and Good luck.