Employee and Employer Contributions
The employee’s contributions are typically 100% vested immediately. That means the employee owns those funds outright. The real question is the employer contributions—many companies use vesting schedules.
Unvested employer funds may not be available to the alternate payee. If the participant is not fully vested at the time of divorce, you may not be able to divide the total account value. The QDRO should address this, by either dividing only the vested balance or including a provision to increase the alternate payee’s share as new amounts vest—only if the plan allows it.

