Can daughters go for their mom's pension if the husband is living?

Are they still married? If they are and the pension is covered by ERISA, then Dad gets the pension. If they are divorced, it depends on what the divorce judgment says your dad's rights are with regard to Mom's pension.

Many pension plans have different rules. The original defined benefit plan (pension) was a plan established by the employer that would provide a lifetime income for the employee and possibly the employee?s spouse. Those plans had no provisions for benefits going to a child for the most part; however, some would let the second life be a child, but that had to be chosen at the time the payout election was made. A newer form of defined benefit plan is more common today. This is called a cash balance plan. This one is more of a dollar amount that is anticipated at the end date rather than a lifetime income stream. Under this, there are beneficiaries named that could be anyone the employee chose. Lastly, sometimes people have something that is referred to as a ?personal pension. This is really not under the defined benefit plan by an employer at all. It is a product a person purchased from an insurance company. Sometimes it is a life insurance policy and more likely it is an annuity. This product would have beneficiaries named by the insured who would be able to receive whatever death benefit the product provided. If you have any other questions, you should find someone who can help review the exact documents to make sure you know what you are dealing with to make a better determination as to who the rightful beneficiary is.