1. Dividing Employee and Employer Contributions
Many people believe splitting a 401(k) just means dividing the account balance in half. It’s not that simple—especially for plans with both employee and employer contributions. In the F P Architects New York Limited 401(k) Plan, the alternate payee may be entitled to a portion of the participant’s total vested balance but not necessarily the full employer contributions if they aren’t fully vested.
Be specific in your language. A common QDRO error is forgetting to address only vested amounts—or including future contributions that weren’t earned during the marriage. At PeacockQDROs, we help clients avoid these kinds of costly mistakes.See other common errors here.

