If you’re going through a divorce and either you or your spouse has money in the Athene Savings & Retirement Plan, it’s critical to address how those retirement assets will be divided. Because this plan is a 401(k), dividing it correctly requires a legal document called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order—or QDRO. Without a proper QDRO, you may not be able to legally claim your portion of the retirement funds.
At PeacockQDROs, we’ve helped many clients just like you take control of the QDRO process. We don’t just draft the document and disappear—we handle everything from drafting and preapproval (if applicable) to court filing, plan submission, and follow-up. That’s what sets us apart. Let’s walk through how a QDRO works for the Athene Savings & Retirement Plan and what you need to know before you divide this particular 401(k) in divorce.
Before drafting your QDRO, it’s important to understand the key facts about the Athene Savings & Retirement Plan:
Because this plan is administered by a business entity working in the general business sector, it likely has traditional 401(k) features such as employee salary deferrals, employer-matching payments, vesting schedules, and possibly Roth and loan provisions. All of these must be considered in your QDRO.
A QDRO is a court order that tells the plan administrator exactly how to split retirement assets in a divorce. Without it, the spouse who didn’t originally own the account (the “alternate payee”) can’t legally receive their share.
The QDRO must meet both IRS and Department of Labor standards and be pre-approved (if the plan allows pre-approval) by the administrator of the Athene Savings & Retirement Plan. Without proper formatting, plan number, and sponsor details included, the QDRO will be rejected. That’s one reason why professional preparation is so important.
Most often, it’s the former spouse of the employee who receives a share of the retirement account, but children or other dependents can also be named as alternate payees in some cases. The QDRO will specify the percentage or dollar amount to be assigned to the alternate payee based on marital division.
With a 401(k) like the Athene Savings & Retirement Plan, here’s what you can potentially divide:
If your spouse received employer contributions, only the vested portion can be divided. You cannot receive any portion of unvested funds. The QDRO must be timed carefully relative to the employee’s vesting schedule to avoid misunderstandings or disappointment.
If the employee took a loan against their Athene Savings & Retirement Plan, that balance must be evaluated. Loans are not separated as cash; they reduce the account value. The QDRO can be written to either include the loan in the marital value or exclude it, depending on your divorce agreement. Lenders will not release spouses of loan repayment obligations unless clearly directed in the QDRO.
401(k) plans like this often allow both Roth and traditional contributions. Roth accounts are post-tax while traditional accounts are pre-tax. The QDRO must clearly identify whether the share being divided is coming from the Roth subaccount, the traditional subaccount, or both. Mixing them without clarity will cause the plan to reject the order.
Once the QDRO is approved and processed, the alternate payee generally has these options:
There is no 10% early withdrawal penalty for a cash distribution tied to a divorce via QDRO, but regular income tax may still apply if funds are taken as cash.
401(k) QDROs involve more than just writing legal language. Every 401(k) plan has unique rules, and the Athene Savings & Retirement Plan is no exception. Here are some common mistakes:
You can avoid many of these missteps by reviewing this helpful page oncommon QDRO mistakes.
At PeacockQDROs, we’ve worked with plans just like the Athene Savings & Retirement Plan for decades. We stay with you from start to finish—drafting, obtaining any preapproval from the plan (if available), filing the order with the court, submitting it to the plan administrator, and ensuring final acceptance.
We maintain near-perfect reviews and pride ourselves on doing things the right way. It all starts with a solid understanding of your specific plan, your divorce details, and your legal rights. If timing is important to you, don’t miss this guide on thetimeline of getting a QDRO done.
To prepare a valid QDRO for the Athene Savings & Retirement Plan, we’ll need:
If you’re not sure where to start, review our landing page on QDROs here:QDRO Overview.
The Athene Savings & Retirement Plan has multiple key features that must be accurately addressed in your QDRO. From loan treatment to vesting conditions to balancing Roth and traditional accounts, every word matters. If the QDRO is poorly written or incomplete, the plan will reject it, creating costly delays during a chapter of life when clarity and closure are needed most.
Let our team at PeacockQDROs help. Our start-to-finish process is designed to relieve the stress and confusion around dividing complex 401(k) plans like this one.
If your divorce was in California, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, or North Dakota, and you have questions about qualified domestic relations orders or dividing retirement assets like the Athene Savings & Retirement Plan, contact PeacockQDROs. We focus on QDROs and have successfully processed many orders from start to finish.
Get the answers you need—explore ourQDRO resources orreach out for personalized help if you’re in one of our service states.
Willie has handled hundreds of QDROs, been named as a stipulated or court-appointed expert in hundreds of orders, testified as an expert witness on QDROs and state government pension survivor benefits, and taught CLEs on QDROs, legal ethics, and military pensions. He is a three-time ABA award-winning legal author and secured a victory before the North Dakota Supreme Court. Full bio →
