Spouses ILR application questions

[skr27]

Hello all
My wife has been on spouses visa since oct 2010. However, she had to spend a considerable amount of time (almost all of the 2 years) abroad to take care of her dad who needed intensive care. In the mean time, I also moved abroad due to job. We still have our family home here in UK and will be returning to UK next year once my current job contract finishes. So my question is
can she apply for ILR based on her spouses visa in Oct 2012 even though she has not lived in the UK for nearly 19 months of the 2 year period? can she apply for ILR from abroad?

any advice or experience in similar cases will be most helpful

best
skr