I inherited my dad’s 401(k) after 20 years and they won’t tell me how much is in it – what can I do?

People who save in a 401(k) plan commonly earmark that money for their own retirement. But unfortunately, sometimes 401(k) holders end up passing away before they get a chance to use their 401(k) funds.

Such may be the situation in this Reddit post.

Here, we have someone who received a notice from a financial institution saying they’re the beneficiary of their father’s 401(k). But the institution won’t share details of the account, including the balance. So the poster has no idea if they even stand to inherit any money.

It’s clearly a frustrating situation. And they have a few options for handling it.

Persistence is key

There are certain rules that need to be followed when a 401(k) is inherited. In this case, the poster should be able to inherit the money, but they may need to withdraw all of the funds by the end of the tenth year following their father’s death. They can also look at rolling the 401(k) balance into an IRA.

But the frustrating part is that the poster does not know how much, if any, money is involved. So they can’t make a financial plan until they get that information.

To that end, they should try contacting the institution and digging around to find someone who can help. They may need to provide information that includes their father’s Social Security number. But if they’re the beneficiary on the account and are entitled to the money, then it’s pretty ridiculous that no one there will tell them how much is in the account.

Of course, another option is to look through their father’s paperwork and see if they can find any 401(k) statements. Even if they’re a bit dated, that should give them an idea as to what’s in the account. They can also trying seeing if their father wrote down their account password somewhere. If so, they can log into the account and get access to its most recent statements.

The poster here might need outside help

Something about this situation strikes me as odd. It’s not an uncommon thing for people to inherit a 401(k). And the poster says the financial institution reached out to them about being the beneficiary, so it makes no sense that they’d then withhold information about the account.

One thing the poster can do, if all else fails, is contact an attorney and see if they can intervene. They may be able to file a complaint against the institution. An estate-planning lawyer could be the best person for the job — particularly one with experience in estate litigation.

If it turns out that there is a decent amount of money in that 401(k), once the funds are disclosed and released, the poster should also consider getting a financial advisor. A financial advisor can help them figure out what to do with the money, whether it’s investing it or using it to address near-term needs.

But one thing the poster here should not do is give up on that money. If they were named the beneficiary of that 401(k), they deserve to gain access to the funds it contains, even if it doesn’t end up being a lot.

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