1. Employee and Employer Contribution Splits
401(k) accounts often include multiple components: employee deferrals, matching employer contributions, and perhaps discretionary employer contributions. In divorces, a common starting point is to divide the marital portion of the account—meaning the part earned during the marriage—regardless of whether those contributions came from the employee or employer.
If employer contributions are subject to a vesting schedule, they may not all be available to divide right away, which leads us to our next point.

