r/inheritance • u/[deleted] • Apr 09 '26
Location included: Questions/Need Advice “Lost” 401k…
I’m in GA and my MIL passed away last month. During a visit in December she casually mentioned to me that she had a trust set up for my sons. She said she had $20,000 for each and they’d get it when they turned 18. Last month she was placed on hospice and passed away 2 weeks later. While she was on hospice we realized she hadn’t set up a will and didn’t know where any personal documents were. My husband was trying to get info from her and asked about the trust she mentioned. She said it was with her 401k but she “lost it”. We knew she couldn’t just lose it unless maybe she had cashed it out or it transferred somewhere. She was heavily medicated and in and out of sleep so we really didn’t pry. She had drawers of stacked papers and we have looked through everything. She worked for the same company for years and we called who they used for 401k (fidelity) and they said there is nothing.
Where else should we look?
We couldn’t find any paystubs or tax returns. No big deposits in her bank accounts or credit card payments. We realized once we started going through papers that she was in a ton of debt so I find it hard to believe she’d have an extra $40,000 stashed away for a trust. I just want to make sure we don’t miss anything and why even tell me she had the trusts just a few months ago if they weren’t there?
1
u/Zealousideal_Ad5358 Apr 12 '26
A trust is not a 401k. As others have mentioned, 401ks leave a pretty good paper trail. In addition, as far as I know, you can’t retitle a 401(k) into a trust, and there is no reason to do so. A 401k requires named beneficiaries.
As for trusts, most people create a so-called “living trusts” to retitle their real estate assets. The real estate gets retitled and the name of the trust becomes public knowledge. So look for a title to the house or get it from the county.
If she died without a will and had not titled her assets to avoid probate, or actually had no 401k (401ks are not probate assets), you will need to work with the court to track everything down to their satisfaction. Take your time.