I need someone or more than one whom can give me legal advise, e-mail me correct legal documents of help for I have to go to court and try to protect a 6-figure sum of money that I had a judgment entered against me and they want to attach my 401K.

Here are the circumstances.

I was a partner in a small firm that had a 401K. When it disbanded, I put this into a IRA rollover at Schwab. It sat there for 4-5 years and in that time, I put in (maybe mistakenly) a $2,000 contribution for that IRA. In the time that it was an IRA and in Maryland, Maryland protecvted this IRA from legal attachment.

Then in 10-03, I put this IRA sum back into a legal 401k WITH ALL PROPER PAPERWORK FOR MY NEW FIRM.

My creditor now wants to attach this money from this judgment I incurred and we say whether in the period that it was an IRA, it was legallly protected from creditors and now since it is back into a legal 401K, it is legally protected under federal law and can't be attached.

I want help in getting paperwork, legal documents and direction of legal help that I can give to my attorney so he can use directly in court. I will be in a court case in the next month.

My home and office # is 301-365-7023 and I live in Bethesda, Md.
mY e-mail is shermanharvey@yahoo.com.

I would even pay if needed for the correct paperwork and whatever information I can use to show a Judge this is protected now that it is back into a 401K.

I don't want to lose such a large sum if I have the proper legal documents to help prove this protection now that it is back into a 401K.

Help please--help please.
harvey sherman
bethesda, Md.
thanks many times.
301-365-7023

This is not a good forum for getting legal advice. You should seek personal counsel. Your attorney should know something about IRA's and qualified pension/profitsharing plans, especially with respect to how, if at all, they are available to creditors (usually not). If bankruptcy or an IRS judgment is involved, variations may occur.

What is your employment status in your current 401(k) plan? Are you an employee or a partner? Why do you need to find an attorney if the assets are held in a 401(k) plan? Under federal law it is the obligation of the 401(k) plan administrator to protect the plan from the claims of creditors to plan assets, not individual participants, since the payment of plan assets to a creditor could disqualify the plan.

Couldn't the new plan could also be disqualified for accepting a rollover that included after tax dollars? The original post stated that the person put $2,000 into the IRA after it was rolled from the prior 401k plan.

Harvey - You do need legal advice from a qualified attorney. Please call my office Toll Free at 1-877-284-2177. If I'm not available, please leave a number and I'll return your call asap.

You'll sleep better knowing what your options are.

Laura