Employee vs. Employer Contributions
Employees may have contributed a portion of their salary to the plan, either on a pre-tax or Roth basis. These are considered fully owned by the employee and are marital property if earned during the marriage. Employer contributions, however, often come with a vesting schedule. Only vested employer contributions are divisible by a QDRO.
When preparing your QDRO, you’ll need to:
- Request a breakdown of vested and unvested balances.
- Understand whether forfeited amounts will affect the alternate payee’s share.
- Address vesting in the order—should the alternate payee get a share of only vested amounts or potentially eligible unvested future contributions?

