Employee vs. Employer Contributions
401(k) plans generally include:
- Employee contributions: These amounts are always 100% yours—fully vested from day one.
- Employer contributions: These are usually subject to a vesting schedule. That means your spouse might not be entitled to all of it unless you’ve hit major service milestones.
When drafting your QDRO, we help identify what portion of your spouse’s 401(k) account is marital (subject to division) and what is separate. Unvested employer contributions are often excluded from division unless otherwise agreed upon during divorce negotiations.

