Legal Question in Military Law in Florida

Re: Retirement

If he participated in the Survivor Benefit Program (SBP), then you should have gotten a slightly reduced monthly check after he died for the rest of your life. If he did not participate, his pension checks died with him. It's a choice he made upon his retirement. If you were not married to him on the date of his retirement, he could not have made you the beneficiary of the SBP program. If you were, then he simply made the decision to have a larger monthly pension payment by waiving the SBP option.

Re: Retirement

Although I am having a little trouble with the concept of an "unmarried wife" what I assume you mean is that you were married to the retired marine at his death and you have not since remarried.

When he selected retirement benefits he had the option of purchasing a plan that would have reduced his retirement slightly but would have provided survivorship benefits. If he failed to purchase this plan, in most cases, you are not entitled to benefits.