Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

I found out my wife had her boyfriend forge and change the amount of her 401k to a lesser amount in order to pay me less in the divorce. The forged 401k document was submitted to our lawyers and used in court to determine settlement of monies.

My question is ... How illegal is this? Are both parties accountable (ex-wife & her boyfriend)? Who would persue this issue ... myself? Our divorce attorneys? The company my wife works for (Fidelity Investments) that holds the 401k? All of the above?


Asked on 10/21/10, 2:32 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

You can seek to set aside the Separation Agreement based on fraud. You should speak with your prior counsel as to how to proceed.

If in fact your ex-wife engaged in fraud she will be held financially liable. You may be able to seek damages from her boyfriend as well. Again, speak with your former divorce counsel.

If after speaking with him you are not confident in his answer, then contact someone else to review the matter. If you like you can contact me to discuss your options after speaking with your prior counsel.

Unless the attorney knowingly participated in the fraud, then they have absolutely no liability. They are not responsible for the fraudulent acts of your ex-wife unless they knew of the fraud and submitted the information with the knowledge of the fraud. I doubt either attorney knew the information was fraudulent.

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Answered on 10/26/10, 2:45 pm


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