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The days of working for a single employer for decades until you retire are over. Today, you are much more likely to change jobs multiple times during your career. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, today’s workers have held an average of 12 jobs by the time they reach their 50s.

Since people change jobs so frequently, it is easy to see you might lose track of an old 401(k) or retirement account, especially if you only worked in a position for a short time. In fact, forgetting plans is quite common: it’s estimated that roughly 900,000 workers lose track of their 401(k) plans each year. And when you forget to cash out your 401(k) upon leaving a job, your former employer might no longer have control of your account.

Even if the company you worked for is still up and running, businesses terminate 401(k) plans all the time, especially during economic downturns. The company is required by law to contact you if they terminate the plan, but if they can’t locate you, the money can be transferred to a bank, rolled into an IRA, or even sent to the state’s unclaimed property fund.

If you’re looking to increase your retirement savings, one way to start is to make sure you haven’t lost or forgotten about any old accounts. Here are 6 tips for tracking down a missing 401(k).

If your former employer is still in business, the easiest way to find an old 401(k) is to contact them. You can ask the human resources department or the plan administrator at the company to search their records to find out whether you participated in the plan, and if they still manage your account. Be prepared to provide the dates that you worked for the employer, your name, and your Social Security number.

If your former employer has shut down or merged with another company, you can try to contact the organization that administered the plan to see if they still control your 401(k). If you have an old statement, it should contain the administrator’s contact information. You can also contact former co-workers and ask if they have copies of old statements from the plan.

If you can’t access your old plan statements, you can try to find the contact information for the plan administrator via the plan’s tax return. Most plans must file an annual tax return, Form 5500, with the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Labor. Search the website www.efast.dol.gov by entering the name of your old employer to find this form.

The plan administrator’s contact information should be included on the 5500. From there, call the administrator, and ask for him or her to check on your account.

If your old account had a fairly small balance, it may no longer be in a 401(k). For 401(k) accounts with balances of less than $5,000, a former employer might have rolled the funds into a default IRA account on your behalf. Default IRAs can be created when your former employer is unable to reach you to find out how you want the funds paid to you. You can search for such IRA accounts for free on the FreeERISA website.

If your former employer terminated its 401(k) plan, this doesn’t automatically mean your money is lost forever. The Department of Labor maintains a list of plans that have been abandoned or are in the process of being terminated. Search their database to find out whether the plan is in the process of—or has already been—terminated, and learn the contact details for the Qualified Termination Administrator (QTA) responsible for overseeing the plan’s shutdown.

The rise of the “gig economy” has led to a dramatic increase in the number of businesses using independent contractors (IC) instead of traditional W2 employees. At the same time, there’s been a sharp uptick in the number of companies being penalized and/or sued for misclassifying workers as ICs.

Indeed, within the past 10 years, there’s been heightened scrutiny from regulatory agencies at all levels and numerous lawsuits filed over the issue. These lawsuits have forced companies like FedEx, Uber, and Citigroup to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to those they’ve misclassified.

State-level studies show that between 10 and 20 percent of employers misclassify at least one employee as an IC, and you can be penalized regardless of whether or not you did it intentionally. Given this, you should carefully scrutinize all of your workers and have the proper contracts in place to shield your business. Fortunately, with legal guidance from us, you can easily avoid these risks and stay totally compliant.

However, since you can save an estimated 20 to 40 percent on labor costs by not contributing to a worker’s Social Security, Medicare, and other benefits, you may be tempted to take your chances and pass off some of your employees as ICs. But in doing so, you’re risking serious consequences, which have the potential to destroy your business.

It’s easy for the IRS to be alerted to a potential misclassification. A worker can file an SS-8 form, alleging you’re in violation of the law, or he or she might simply receive a 1099 and W-2 in the same year. Beyond that, you can also get caught if a worker tries to claim unemployment or disability, as this results in an audit of your business.

Plus, because there’s no single test to determine a worker’s classification, it can be easy to misclassify a worker by mistake. And regardless of whether or not the misclassification was intentional, if the allegation proves valid, you’re potentially on the hook for paying back taxes, benefits, and numerous fines.

If you misclassify an employee, you face fines from the U.S. Department of Labor, IRS, and state agencies that can total millions of dollars. Moreover, you can be held responsible for paying back-taxes and interest on employee wages, along with FICA taxes that weren’t originally withheld. Failure to make these payments can result in additional fines.

You can also be held liable for failing to pay overtime and minimum wage under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act as well as under state laws. Such claims can go back as far as three years if it’s found you knowingly made the misclassification.

If the IRS believes your misclassification was intentional, there’s also the possibility of criminal and civil penalties. Additional penalties and fines can be assessed depending on the severity of your misclassification.

Outside of the fines paid to state and federal agencies, if an employee is misclassified, they’re eligible to claim employee benefits he or she missed out on. These can include healthcare coverage, stock options, 401(k) matches, PTO, and even unpaid break time.

Of course, if a worker is misclassified, the resulting audit and penalties can also seriously damage your company’s reputation. So, even if the fines and penalties don’t sink your business, the negative media coverage just might.

With such severe consequences, it’s simply not worth taking the chance of misclassifying your workers. To this end, you should consult with us as your Family Business Lawyer® to make sure you have all of your bases covered.

Whether you need help reviewing your IC classification practices or would like assistance with creating sound employment contracts, you can rely on us. Contact our office today to get started.

We offer a complete spectrum of legal services for businesses and can help you make the wisest choices on how to deal with your business throughout life and in the event of your death. We also offer a LIFT Start-Up Session™ or a LIFT Audit for an ongoing business, which includes a review of all the legal, financial, and tax systems you need for your business. Call us today to schedule. Or, schedule online.

Even if the process is amicable, divorce can be one of life’s most stressful events. With so many major changes taking place, it’s easy to forget to update your estate plan—or simply put it off until it’s too late. After all, dealing with yet another lawyer is probably the last thing you want to do.

However, neglecting to update your estate plan for divorce can have potentially tragic consequences. And you shouldn’t wait until the divorce is final to rework your plan—you should update it as soon as you realize the split is inevitable.

Here’s why: Your marriage is legally still in full effect until your divorce is final, so if you die or become incapacitated while your divorce is ongoing and haven’t changed your estate plan, your soon-to-be ex spouse could wind up with complete control over you life and assets. Unless you want your ex to have that kind of power, you need to take action as soon as possible.

However, keep in mind that some states have laws that limit your ability to change your estate plan once your divorce is filed, so you may want to consider making some or all of the following changes to your estate plan as soon as divorce is on the horizon and before you’ve filed. As your Personal Family Lawyer®, we can support you to ensure your estate plan is properly updated to reflect the latest changes in your life situation, family dynamics, and asset profile. Contact us as soon as you know divorce is coming, or right away if you’ve already begun the divorce process.

Unless you want the person you are removing from your life to make all of your legal, financial, and medical decisions in the event of your incapacity, you need to update your power of attorney documents as soon as divorce is inevitable. All adults over age 18 should have both a durable financial power of attorney and a medical power of attorney in place.

A durable financial power of attorney allows you to grant an individual of your choice the legal authority to make financial and legal decisions on your behalf should you become unable to make such decisions yourself. Similarly, a medical power of attorney grants someone the legal authority to make your healthcare decisions in the event of your incapacity.

Without these documents in place, your spouse has priority to make financial and legal decisions for you. And since most people typically name their spouse as their decision maker in these documents, you need to take action even before you begin the divorce process and grant this authority to someone else, especially if things are anything less than amicable between the two of you.

Once divorce is a sure thing, don’t wait—immediately contact us, your Personal Family Lawyer® to get these documents created or changed. And unless your attorney is an expert in estate planning, we recommend you don’t rely on your divorce lawyer to update these documents for you. There are just far too many important details in these documents that can be overlooked by a lawyer using a standard form, rather than the custom documents we will prepare for you.

As soon as you know you are getting divorced, you should update the beneficiary designations for assets that do not pass through a will or trust, such as life insurance policies and retirement plans. Failing to update your beneficiaries can lead to serious trouble down the road, and unfortunately, we see this happen all the time.

If you get remarried following your divorce, for example, but you haven’t changed the beneficiary of your 401(k) to name your new spouse, the ex you divorced 10 years ago could end up with your retirement account upon your death. And since there are often restrictions on changing beneficiary designations once a divorce is filed, the timing of your beneficiary change is particularly critical.

In most states, once either spouse files divorce papers with the court, neither party can legally change their beneficiaries without the other’s permission until the divorce is final. With this in mind, you may want to consider changing your beneficiaries prior to filing divorce papers, and then post-divorce you can always change them again to reflect whatever is determined in the divorce settlement.

If your divorce is already filed, meet with us your Personal Family Lawyer® to see if changing beneficiaries is legal in our state—and whether it’s in your best interest. And if naming new beneficiaries is not an option for you now, once the divorce is finalized it should be your number-one priority. In fact, put it on your to-do list right now!

You should create a new will as soon as you decide to get divorced, since once divorce papers are filed, you may not be able to change your will. And because most married couples name each other as their executor and the primary beneficiary of their estate, it’s important to name a new person to fill these roles as well.

When creating a new will, rethink how you want your assets divided upon your death. This most likely means naming new beneficiaries for any assets that you’d previously left to your future ex and his or her family. Keep in mind, some states have community-property laws that entitle your surviving spouse to a certain percentage of the marital estate upon your death, regardless of what your will says. So if you die before the divorce is final, you probably won’t be able to entirely disinherit your surviving spouse through the new will.

That said, it’s almost certain you wouldn’t want him or her to get everything. In light of this, you should create your new will as soon as you realize divorce is inevitable to ensure the proper individuals inherit the remaining percentage of your estate should you pass away while your divorce is still ongoing.

And should you choose not to create a new will during the divorce process, don’t assume that your old will is automatically revoked once the divorce is final. State laws vary widely in regards to how divorce affects a will. In some states, your will is revoked by default upon divorce. In others, unless it’s officially revoked, your entire will—including all provisions benefiting your ex—remain valid even after the divorce is final.

Given the uncertain legal landscape, meet with us your Personal Family Lawyer® as soon as you know divorce is coming. We can advise you on our state’s laws and how to best navigate them when creating your new will—whether you do so before or after your divorce is final.

If you have a revocable living trust, you’ll want to update it too. Like wills, the laws governing if, when, and how you can change a trust during a divorce can vary, so you should consult us as soon as possible if you are considering divorce. In addition to reconsidering what assets your soon-to-be-ex spouse should receive through the trust, you’ll probably want to replace him or her as successor trustee, if they are so designated.

And if you don’t have a trust in place, you should seriously consider creating one, especially if you have minor children. Trusts provide an array of benefits that are unavailable with a will, and they’re particularly well-suited for blended families. Given the likelihood that both you and your spouse will eventually get remarried—and perhaps have more children—trusts are an invaluable way to protect and manage the assets you want your children to inherit.

By using a trust, for example, should you die or become incapacitated while your kids are minors, you can name someone of your choosing to serve as successor trustee to manage their money until they reach adulthood, making it impossible for your ex to meddle with their inheritance.

Given the enhanced protection and control that a trust can provide compared with a will, you should at least discuss creating a trust with us, your Personal Family Lawyer® before ruling out the option entirely.

During the divorce process, your primary objective is limiting your soon-to-be ex’s control over your life and assets should you die or become incapacited before divorce is final. For this reason, the individuals to whom you grant power of attorney, name as trustee, designate to receive your 401(k), or add to your estate plan in any other way while the divorce is ongoing are often just temporary.

Once the divorce is final and your marital property has been divided up, you should revisit all of your estate planning documents and update them accordingly based on your new asset profile and living situation. From there, your plan should continuously evolve along with your life circumstances, particularly following major life events, such as getting remarried, having additional children, or when family members pass away.

Although it may be tempting to put off changing your estate plan when you are going through a divorce, especially if the process has been contentious, you can’t afford to wait. Meet with us to review your estate plan immediately upon realizing that divorce is unavoidable, and then schedule a follow-up visit once your divorce is final.

If you delay updating your estate plan, even just for a few days during your divorce, it can make it legally impossible to change certain parts of your plan, so act now. And if you’ve yet to create any estate plan at all, an impending divorce is the perfect time to finally take care of this crucial responsibility. Contact us today to learn more.

This article is a service of a Personal Family Lawyer®. We do not just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session™, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

Proper estate planning can keep your family out of conflict, out of court, and out of the public eye. If you’re ready to create a comprehensive estate plan, contact us to schedule your Family Wealth Planning Session. Even if you already have a plan in place, we will review it and help you bring it up to date to avoid heartache for your family. Schedule online today.