🔺 r/personalfinanceuPale-Effective-4907·60 days ago
Found out my dad may have an old 401k from the early 1990s — he died in 2012 and I’m his only child. What happens now?
I recently found out that my dad may have left behind an old 401k, and I’m trying to figure out what happens to it after all these years. This actually started because I was contacted by Fidelity , which is what prompted me to look into it further. Here’s the situation: My dad worked for Wilbur-Ellis around the early 1990s and apparently had a 401k through Fidelity. I’m not actually sure how long he worked there, just that it was sometime in that general period. He passed away in 2012. He was not married when he died. I am his only child. As far as I know, there was no probate estate opened for this 401k, and I had no idea the account existed until recently. I was recently contacted by Fidelity, which is what brought this to my attention and started the process. I have already followed up with Fidelity and am working through their process. At this point, I do not know whether my dad named a beneficiary on the account. My biggest concern is what happens if there is no beneficiary, the beneficiary predeceased him, or Fidelity can’t locate valid beneficiary information. My dad died in Alaska, although I currently live in Washington. I’m trying to understand what I should expect and wh…