Loan Balances
401(k) loans are common in employee plans. If the account holder has an outstanding loan balance at the time of divorce, you’ll have to decide how to treat it:
- Deduct it from the account total before calculating the alternate payee’s share
- Exclude the loan entirely, treating the gross balance as the total value
- Have the employee-spouse alone bear the repayment responsibility
The QDRO must clearly explain how to handle loans, or the plan administrator may delay or deny implementation.

