Unvested Employer Contributions
This plan likely includes both employee salary deferrals and employer profit-sharing contributions. Unlike employee contributions, employer contributions often have a vesting schedule. That means the employee doesn’t own the full amount unless they’ve worked for the company long enough.
During divorce, the QDRO should specify whether the alternate payee will receive a share of just the vested account balance, or a portion of all contributions, including unvested amounts as they vest in the future. If this detail is left out or mishandled, you risk either over- or underpaying the alternate payee.

