If you enroll in an Employee Savings Plan and you leave the company, what happens to that money?

Question

If you work for a company and they do a match on an Employee Savings Plan, does that money stay in some sort of an account if you should die or leave? What happens if the company closes or is sold? How can I find out if someone had a life insurance policy and any other benefits?

I ran across some paperwork that showed my father had been contributing into a company-matched Employee Savings Plan and it lists my mother and I as his beneficiaries. I have tried to look up the company he had been working for, but it turns out that they were bought out and now, I can not find any current information on them. I also tried to look for the company that underwrote the Savings Plan, but they, too, are operating under a different name.

How, if it is possible, can I find out if I can still rightfully claim a stake as my father's beneficiary (I am an only child and both my mom and I are listed as beneficiaries) and what they might be?

Answer 1

As a rule, savings and retirement plans belong to the employee that contributed to them.  So, in theory, your father's account should still be out there somewhere.

Such accounts are generally administered by the Human Resources department so I recommend you start with the HR department of the company that bought out your father's former employer.  Explain your situation.  You'll probably need proof of kinship.  The paperwork you have should suffice as proof he contributed.  If you're lucky enough to have it, the most recent statement showing the account balance at the time of his last contribution will be invaluable.