retirement funds

[brianmo]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MN
My divorce decree was effective November 2007. In the decree my ex-wife was awarded half of my retirement funds. The decree stipulates the amounts to be taken from both accounts.
She was to process the legal documents (and incur those costs) to get the funds transferred. She has not done so until now and the funds in those accounts are now half of what they were.
Am I obligated to pay the "values" that were once half of the total, or can I push to have half the current total paid out so I don't lose it all?
Thanks

 

[Silverplum]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MN
My divorce decree was effective November 2007. In the decree my ex-wife was awarded half of my retirement funds. The decree stipulates the amounts to be taken from both accounts.She was to process the legal documents (and incur those costs) to get the funds transferred. She has not done so until now and the funds in those accounts are now half of what they were.
Am I obligated to pay the "values" that were once half of the total, or can I push to have half the current total paid out so I don't lose it all?
Thanks

According to what you wrote (bolded), you owe specified dollar amounts.

 

[mistoffolees]

According to what you wrote (bolded), you owe specified dollar amounts.

True. HOWEVER, if she delayed an unreasonable period of time, then the court may hold HER responsible for the delays and not him.

I would talk with an attorney about going back to court and saying "I was fully prepared to follow the court order, but she delayed unnecessarily, causing great harm. I propose that we go back to the time of the divorce and see what percentage of the total she was entitled to (that is, if she was entitled to $50 K and the account was worth $200 K, she was entitled to 25%). I propose that we give her that same percentage of the CURRENT value (if it has dropped to $100 K, she would only get $25 K, but that's exactly what she'd have if she had transferred the money into her own stock account at the time of the court order).

I can't guarantee that it would work, but it's certainly a reasonable request to make.

OTOH, if OP was responsible for the delay, the court would probably say it was his fault and not hers, so he should suffer the consequences.