Employee and Employer Contributions
401(k) plans include both employee contributions—amounts the worker personally deferred from their paycheck—and often employer contributions, such as matches or profit sharing. While employee contributions are always 100% vested, employer contributions might not be.
It’s critical that your QDRO states whether the alternate payee is entitled only to contributions that have vested as of the divorce date, or also to future vesting. If your divorce agreement says “50% of the marital portion,” but the employer-match hasn’t vested, you could walk away with less than you thought. We help clients avoid this common mistake.

