1. Employee and Employer Contributions
It’s important to know who contributed what to the 401(k). An employee typically defers salary into the plan (pre-tax or Roth), but the employer may also match these contributions. The QDRO must specify whether the division includes:
- Just the employee’s contributions
- Employer match that is fully or partially vested
- All vested balances as of a certain date
In a divorce, the most common approach is to split the entire vested account balance as of a specific date—usually the date of separation or divorce filing. At PeacockQDROs, we ensure that the division properly covers vested portions so the Alternate Payee gets their fair share.

