Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in New Jersey

401 k benificiary left blank companies mistake

hello, my brother passed away in april. no wife no children. he had life insurance from work that went directly to me. no problems. however he had a 401 k that the company told me was left blank for the beneficiary.. therefore i had to go through probate. and get the money and had to pay his bills. my question is . i know i was the benificiary on his 401k when he initially signed up. because they ask for one.and he told me he was employed for 25 years and over the years they had changed 401 k providers and the company he worked for failed to transfer the beneficiary information. when the company tranfers 401 k providers they just say do nothing it will roll over to the new one. do i have any recourse to sue the company for failure to transfer the beneficiary information. thank you in advance i am in new jersey.....Lori


Asked on 9/22/06, 7:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan Chester The Law Office of Jonathan S. Chester, Esq., LLC

Re: 401 k benificiary left blank companies mistake

I would be very surprised if what you are saying about the 401(k) beneficiary form is accurate.

Generally, when a company changes 401(k) plan administrators, the new investment firm will require a participant enroll in the new plan, even if he/she is bringing his/her existing account over...and at that point a new beneficiary form would be filled out. They don't just continue to use the old forms from the prior investment company.

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Answered on 9/25/06, 7:58 am


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