That's sad you lost the pension he worked hard for. Both our pensions are set that the spouse gets 65% of pension after death until death of the surviving spouse. It reduced the amount of pension a little per month but we knew it would be worth it for the survivor of us. If I hadn't see that option before we started drawing the pensions from our work (worked for same company) my husband would have never known about it when filling out his pension papers. HR may have informed him but it would not have registered. If about to retire and have pensions, read everything. Financial details are so important to know especially before you retire. My husband sits with me every few months to go over our finances and where we are at long term.