Can an employer not allow you to rollover your 401k after you leave the company? If the summary plan documents don't allow for rollover is that legal? Also, another former employee of same former employer found out after trying to rollover his money that the rollover check goes to the President of this same company before going to the new investment firm. What happened is the President of this company sent it back to the current investment firm, does the President handling this money constitute a violation of 401k rules?

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Originally Posted by Chief1260

Can an employer not allow you to rollover your 401k after you leave the company? If the summary plan documents don't allow for rollover is that legal? Also, another former employee of same former employer found out after trying to rollover his money that the rollover check goes to the President of this same company before going to the new investment firm. What happened is the President of this company sent it back to the current investment firm, does the President handling this money constitute a violation of 401k rules?

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401(k) and rollover, distribution criteria, etc. are heavily regulated by the IRS due to their pre-tax components. I would contact the 401(k) company directly for rollover provisions and have the summary plan document available. Perhaps your company has some vesting provisions on the "employer" portion of your 401(k) that terminating employment (with for example less than 5yrs of service) returns those dollars to the employer. Hope this helps.

No, the former employer cannot dictate whether the money is rolled over into an IRA or a successor plan. If you are having trouble, report it to the IRS.