"My dad would not have left my mother in this position. There's no way," Penny Loracco, says about her Veteran father that never signed a Spousal Benefit Plan.
If signed, the SBP paperwork guarantees a spouse 55% of the retiree's pay.
Penny's father, Jame's H. Mullins served in the U.S. Airforce for 20 years and in the Civil Service for 23.
It's paperwork Mullins received back in 1981 that leaves his family nothing.
"When he passed away, the money went into the bank and they took it right back out," Loracco adds.
While Loracco and her family say it's merely a mistake that her father forgot to sign that Spousal Benefit Plan, a local veteran service officer says unfortunately the chances of that are unlikely.
"Most of paperwork is pretty straightforward," says Jimmy DeFoor, a National Service Officer.
The local veteran's office also says that this type of thing, unfortunately is not uncommon.
"We've seen this before and it's always unfortunate," DeFoor adds.
Penny understands that her mother may not ever see any money back from the government, but just doesn't want the same thing to happen to anyone else.
