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401k

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verna01

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? Washington. My husband and I are planning to divorce. We have been married for 12 years. He has $265,000.00 in his 401K. Am I entitled to any of that? If so, how much? I have $15,000.00 in my 401K. We had to take a loan out on mine a few years ago. How much is he entitled to?
 


LdiJ

Senior Member
verna01 said:
What is the name of your state? Washington. My husband and I are planning to divorce. We have been married for 12 years. He has $265,000.00 in his 401K. Am I entitled to any of that? If so, how much? I have $15,000.00 in my 401K. We had to take a loan out on mine a few years ago. How much is he entitled to?
You are each entitled to 1/2 of the amount of the 401ks that accrued during the marriage.

Example: Let say that his 401k had 145,000 in it when you married. 265,000-145,000/2 = 60,000 Therefore you would be entitled to 60,000 of his 401k, less his share of yours.

However, if you own a home, and the home has considerable equity, then another possible division would be for you to leave his 401k alone, in exchange for a greater share (or all) of the equity in the home.

The bottom line is that you are each entitled to 1/2 of the marital assets.....and they can be divided in any way that makes sense.
 

verna01

Junior Member
Actally, I found his newest statement, and he has $367,000.00. How would I find out how much was in the account when we were married? We do own a home which he is hoping to buy me out, and I would build a new one. Hopefully I should get $50,000.00-100,000.00.
 

nextwife

Senior Member
The 401K administrator can provide him that information, on request. If he has rolled over the funds during the marriage from a prior employer, he'd need to contact them to find our account value as of X date.
 

verna01

Junior Member
My husband said he actually LOST money in his 401K between the years 1994-2005. So, he thinks I'll owe him money. Or, get nothing at all.
 

nextwife

Senior Member
verna01 said:
My husband said he actually LOST money in his 401K between the years 1994-2005. So, he thinks I'll owe him money. Or, get nothing at all.
That would be quantifiable, if true.

And yes, depending upon what investments within the 401K he was holding, he would very well have seen a drop in values. Tech stocks, for example. Bond values. Company stock, perhaps, as that often makes up a large chunk of a 401K via matching funds. Say, for example, he worked for a previously overvalued stock company and held a LOT of company stock because matching funds had been paid in stock, he might see half his 401k holdings plummet.

Enron is one example of how this can happen.

Basically you each should be entitled to half any increase in each other's retirement accounts and other marital property from the marriage forward.

If his retirement account was truly worth the same then as now (because of market forces, rather than tampering), then you may NOT be entitled to anything from it, as it did not accrue DURING the marriage. Many retirement accounts depend fully on participant contributions. If he was not contributing during the marriage, and you were not contributing to yours, neither of you would have added to your 401k values DURING the marriage, and any accrual would have been based on performance of the holdings within those 401k's..
 
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LdiJ

Senior Member
verna01 said:
My husband said he actually LOST money in his 401K between the years 1994-2005. So, he thinks I'll owe him money. Or, get nothing at all.
I am sorry, but that is TOTAL BS. Hire yourself a good attorney. You need one.
 

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