Q: my ex wife was awarded $27,000 from my 401k 2 years ago.its still in my 401k, is there a statute of limitations ?

A: That's an excellent question. There are may factors involved. If a proper QDRO (Qualified Domestic Relations Order) was executed and she chose the option of receiving payments when you retire rather than opening her own retirement plan, then it would make sense that the full balance is still there even though it has been officially divided. The QDRO would name her as an alternate payee.

If a QDRO has not be executed, then she is still able to get one done now and claim the amount awarded to her in the divorce. It all depends on why it was not done and what remains the obstacle.

The best thing to do is to consult with a qualified family law attorney who can examine your specific circumstances and advise you accordingly.

A: The short answer is NO. Clearly she made a mistake and failed to take steps to move her share of the account over to a separate IRA account as part of the divorce. Yet, you know that 27,000 of your account balance is her money and one day, she may wake up and recognize that she failed to address this issue and then makes a demand for the turnover of that money together with the interest earned on it from the divorce forward. She may also be under the mistaken view that she had the right to leave it in your account and take it out at a later date - regardless, if she wakes up one day and makes a demand on you for the turn over of that money ( or the rollover of those monies to an IRA account in her name alone) and you refuse, she will file an application with the court for relief and most likely the court will agree with her and require the transfer of those funds ( and most likely the interest that was earned on the money as well).

So, my suggestion is that you can either send her an email / text message ( and make sure you save that message in your files for safekeeping) reminding her that she still has the 27,000 in your retirement account and that she needs to take action to immediately move it ( rollover) to an IRA account in her name alone. If nothing else, it will show that you tried to resolve this issue peacefully with her and any delay was caused by her alone failing to take action.

If it is a set sum of money from a 401K type plan, most likely she will not need a QDRO to transfer it - most institutions can "rollover" the monies from your plan account to an IRA account in her name without cost to either of you.