Employee Contributions vs. Employer Contributions
Typically, employee contributions are always 100% vested. However, employer-matching contributions may be subject to a vesting schedule. This means part of the account’s balance could be considered unvested at the date of divorce, and therefore not divisible.
If a QDRO attempts to divide unvested amounts, the alternate payee may later be disappointed to find the payout is smaller than anticipated. For this reason, we always recommend basing the division on vested account balances as of a specific date—usually the date of separation or the divorce judgment.

