As a baseline, your spouse would be entitled to 50% of any increase in the value of your 401k during the the period of the marriage. If you had no increase, she would not be entitled to any of it. This, however, is based on a relatively short marriage, and no additional information. There could be extenuating circumstances like a long marriage, fault on your part, a disability or inability to earn a living on her part, etc. But, generally, and barring the circumstances set forth above, in a short marriage, the parties walk away with what they brought into the marriage, and one half of any assets accumulated during the marriage.
Answered on Sep 27th, 2013 at 10:43 AM