IRA from divorce settlement

[hengwen]

What is the name of your state? Oregon
My divorce trial was May 13, 2005. The divorce decree was recorded July 28, 2005
The judgement stated my ex was to start paying child support and alimony beginning June 1, 2005.
The decree states that half of my ex's IRA is to be rolled over into my IRA.
I just started the process of getting my half. The last IRA statement my attorney has was dated 6 weeks before the trial. The IRA company said my ex would have to sign a letter stating the exact dollar amount to be tranferred into my IRA. He supposedly requested that figure from the IRA firm for the value on the date of our trial, but the amount he told me was over $4245 less that it had been 6 weeks before our trial. This means I would get $2123 less than I expected. Not only that, but my ex has been earning interest on my half for over a year now. Not his fault, but it's not exactly fair, either. What should I do? My attorney says it could cost $2000 in legal fees to get the $2000 if my ex wants to fight about it. Am I entitled to any of the interest he's earned on my half the past 13 months?

[nextwife]

Hon, depending upon what holdings his IRA consisted of, it is entirely possible, due to market fluctuations, that his IRA or 401K COULD indeed have a lower surrender value at the moment. You may want to compare the number of shares in X and Y funds to see if they are comparable (rather than dollar value), and what the historic value of those funds has been over the last year or so. Some of my retirement investments are down in value right now.

Aren't any of your retirement funds or other stock/mutual fund holdings worth less than a year ago?