I'm trying to help someone out... he has a sizable sum in a 401(k) plan currently held by ADP from a company he used to work at. I had helped him fill out all the paperwork to open an account at Vanguard and roll his money over into an IRA. ADP claims that he is still an active employee of small company X (~6 employees), which was seized by the bank in April 2014 for non-payment or non-compliance or something (they had a big loan with the bank). Assets were sold, the company ceased operation (we're not sure exactly what legally went down in terms of bankruptcy, but all employees were told "this is your last paycheck" and that was the end of it). The owner was very ill (cancer) and I believe that things may not have been done properly, e.g., not filing paperwork and so on.
This former employee hasn't heard a word from the former owner since that day. He's moved out of state for a new job somewhere else. But he can't get his money from ADP because they say he's still listed as actively working for Company X, and you can't terminate yourself, you have to have the plan administrator do it. The plan administrator is MIA and we don't know how to contact him.
I'm seeing a lot of complicated recommendations involving the Department of Labor or going to court... obviously no one wants to deal with that stuff if they don't have to. And this person in particular is a little... difficult? I dunno. He is convinced that ADP is going to keep his money and he'll never be able to access it again. And he has very little tolerance for trying to sit on the phone and talk this stuff through. He just gets flustered and hangs up the phone. So I'm trying to figure out the easiest and least stressful way to do this, and I was thinking someone here might have already gone through the process and could have some tips.
So - any advice? :-/
