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Like bank accounts or a home, stock options and RS Us are properties with a value that can be divided in divorce. Vested stock options are easy to value because they depend on the stock price on a given day and the special discounted price ("strike price," "grant price," or "exercise price") at which an employee can buy the stock. Unvested stock options or RS Us cannot be reliably valued in the present because their value depends on a) future stock prices and b) whether the employee stays at the job until particular future dates. This makes it challenging to develop a realistic dollar figure for buying a spouse out of any future claim on the stock option/RSU. Many couples, therefore, opt for "deferred distribution," in which the option's value or RSU is shared in the future when it is turned into dollars. Because stock options and RS Us cannot be reliably valued in the present, a separation agreement can specify a percentage, rather than specific dollar amounts, for dividing them in the future. The fundamental question for reaching this percentage is, "What percent of the option/RSU was earned during the marriage?" To determine this for a given stock option/RSU, use the 'Baccanti Formula' above to calculate this for each stock option or RSU. Stock options and RS Us earned during the marriage are marital assets, subject to division, and suggested this means of determining what percent of them belongs to the union.