Employee vs. Employer Contributions
One of the first issues to identify is which portion of the El-com/cabletek 401(k) Plan is marital property. Employee contributions are traditionally treated as marital property earned during the marriage – and thus subject to division. Employer contributions add complexity: they may be partially or fully unvested at the time of separation.
If part of the employer contribution wasn’t vested when the marriage ended—or won’t vest until after the divorce—the QDRO must reflect that. Otherwise, a nonparticipant spouse might try to claim funds that never legally vested.

