Legal Question in Family Law in California

I will be retiring soon and I am very concerned about my 401 K. My Husband and I have been seperated since 2010 and I do not know his whereabouts. I have been told for me to get a portion of the 401 in cash, he will need to sign a waiver to allow me to receive the monies I am entitled to. I have worked for the same employer for 34 years. I do not know what he will do if he is given the form to sign to waive his entitlement to any of my money. We are not divorced , no thought of this has ever been brought up by either of us. I cannot locate him and he will not answer any text messages and/or phone calls. I am so afraid of the possibility of him not signing the waiver if I should locate him when the time comes to do so. Please advise of my rights or what I should do to protect myself against this situation not going in my favor. Thank you.


Asked on 7/20/14, 4:31 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

There is not much you can do at this point except file for divorce and divide up the 401k and any other community property. The time to protect "your" money from him being entitled to a share of it was back when you got married, with a pre-nup. You can get divorced without locating him, by serving him with the divorce summons by publication, but only after demonstrating to the court that you have exhausted all reasonable efforts to locate him and have him served in person.

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Answered on 7/21/14, 9:31 am


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