Need Legal Advise about ex-husbands 401K / Retirement Money !!!? | 401k Questions

Question

Asked 8/6/2007

Need Legal Advise about ex-husbands 401K / Retirement Money !!!?

Asking for my mom... She was married 21 years and in the divorce she was awarded 1/2 his 401K / Retirement money for the years they were married. Now she wants to find out how much he has. He said that there is not that much in there. But won't give an exact amount. She is trying to find out w/o a lawyer due to expensive lawyer fees. Someone told her that if he took any money out that he could be charged, since it was court ordered that she would recieve half.

Any advise would be helpful! Thanks.

Answers

Answer 1/5 - Submitted 8/6/2007

ahh....how about make ur own damn money..obviously he works for his, whether he is an @sshole or not..the laws in this state are retarded as hell

Answer 2/5 - Submitted 8/6/2007

You will need an attorney. He will contact his employer to find out how much $$$ he has. She could charge his fee's back to her ex

Answer 3/5 - Submitted 8/6/2007

She needs to go back to court and inform the judge that the court order is being disobeyed. He'll be held in contempt of court. I think your mom is going to need a lawyer though because it sounds like your dad isn't going to just roll over. He may need a little push. Lawyers are good at making courts push. When I was divorced I felt that my wife was entitled to half of everything. It was only fair. Painful yes, but fair. Good luck.

Answer 4/5 - Submitted 8/7/2007

Unfortunately she'll need a lawyer because the court will have to supply his 401k Plan Sponsor with a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) that will detail the amount that your mom is legally required to receive. This will also be the document that is used to formally split the account. Without it the plan sponsor/administrator will not act solely on word from her ex-husband and they will not split the account just on what a divorce decree states. If they do then they are seriously jeopardizing the tax qualified status of the plan.

Answer 5/5 - Submitted 8/9/2007

The divorce decree may have the information necessary for it to be deemed a QDRO but very unlikely. Your mom should immediately contact (via certified mail) her ex's employer and let them know that a QDRO is pending. That will prevent him from taking any money out. At that point she will need to find a lawyer who will prepare a qdro on the cheap. 401k QDRO's are easy so have her shop around. What her attorney should do is find out how much was in there when they got married, how much was in there when they seperated and how much was taken out in the interim. The attorney will know what to do after that. NEVER NEVER NEVER fail to hire a lawyer because they are too expensive. failing to do so will end up costing your mom FAR FAR more!

and the guy that said for your mom to earn her own money is an idiot....she's entitled to half of what he earned during the marriage and he's entitled to half of what she earned. If he was stupid enough to get married without a prenup then he deserves to get reamed

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