I've got some stored in a client called bitcoin-qt, which I haven't opened in years and I expect would take months to catch up with the block chain as it is. Sh

I've got some stored in a client called bitcoin-qt, which I haven't opened in years and I expect would take months to catch up with the block chain as it is. Should I be worried about trying to shift them before (or after) the fork? Am I likely to be tied into which ever fork the bitcoin-qt maintainers support? Should I be trying to transfer to a paper wallet before the fork?