Vesting and Employer Contributions
Most 401(k) plans include both employee contributions (which are always 100% vested) and employer contributions (which may be subject to a vesting schedule). If your QDRO includes a share of the employer match, it’s important to know whether the participant was fully vested at the date of division.
If not, the alternate payee may lose unvested amounts that are later forfeited by the participant. Your QDRO should include fallback language built around the participant’s vesting status to deal with this appropriately.

