Employee vs. Employer Contributions
In a 401(k) plan, both the employee and the employer may contribute, and these amounts are tracked separately. A QDRO can award either a percentage or a dollar amount of the participant’s total vested balance as of a certain date. However, only the vested portion of employer contributions can be divided.
For example, if the employee had $100,000 in their account and $20,000 of that came from employer matching contributions that are not yet vested, the alternate payee (usually the former spouse) can only be awarded from the vested portion. PeacockQDROs checks vesting carefully to ensure no portion of the award is later denied by the plan administrator due to lack of vesting.

