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To answer to the question: Can waived rights to pension be appealed by divorced widow? is best explained using an illustration of an actual court case.
Can Waived Rights to Pension be Appealed by Divorced Widow: A Case Study
Kim Fox married James Fox in 1965. James was serving in the US Navy at that time and was participating in the military’s retirement system which allowed him to designate a beneficiary to receive the survivor benefits should be die in action. James retired from military service in 1967 and he designated his wife as beneficiary to receive survivor benefits.
Immediately after retiring from the US Navy, he became a civilian employee of the Department of Navy, where he participated in the CSRS pension scheme. Here to his wife was designated as beneficiary.
In 1984, James retired completely and he decided not to take his military retirement pay. Instead he opted to receive credit for his military service under the CSRS.
In 1986, the Fox couple separated and executed a Property Settlement Agreement and Kim Fox signed a waiver of any right to spousal support. However, a clause was mentioned in the agreement that the husband would keep the wife covered under Survivors Benefit Plan.
James Fox died in 1994 and Kim Fox applied for survivor benefits as a former spouse. However, her application was rejected because there was no court ordered survivor annuity for her. She filed for reconsideration but her request was denied. This led Kim Fox to file an appeal.
We will not discuss the outcome of the case study. Rather we should learn from this that it is possible for a divorced widow to appeal to waived rights of pension.
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In the United States there are three main sources of income for people who reach the age of retirement. These sources are pension, individual savings and Social Security. It is important to understand and compare different pension systems so that individuals can understand the basics. 
