Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: 401k

Assuming you are dissolving a marriage, you would want a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. Some companies' benefits departments produce them, some companies' benefits departments don't, and you have to produce it (or get it produced for your). You want to be sure that the QDRO is addressed in the Decree. How much of the 401k you are entitled to is not fixed at 50% (if you went to trial or by negotiation unless the parties agree to that split, your claim may be affected by: how old you are and how old she is, how long you have been married, how much of that time overlaps the period she worked at place where the 401k comes from, how other debts and assets are distributed, etc.

Re: 401k

I am not sure where you are in the dissolution of marriage process (divorce), but if you have done nothing official yet, then the first thing you need to do is file a petition for dissolution of the marriage to get the ball rolling. From there a motion for temporary restraining orders will prevent either of you from liquidating anything, such as the 401(k) you are worried about.

If you can reach an agreed settlement, then a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO) is used to divide the 401(k).

By the way, as an aside, if your wife is totally out of it, you may want to have the Court appoint a guardian ad litem (GAL) which is someone who speaks on behalf of your wife, since she is so intoxicated. If you do not do this, you risk later on having the distribution of assets in the decree set aside on the basis that she did not know what she was agreeing to do when she signed the papers. (Just a thought to keep in mind.)