Employee and Employer Contributions
Employee contributions are fully vested immediately. That means a divorcing spouse (often referred to as the “alternate payee”) may be entitled to a portion of those funds no matter when they were contributed. But employer contributions are often subject to a vesting schedule. If the participant has not met the required years of service, some of those employer contributions may be forfeited and therefore not divisible.
A well-drafted QDRO will clarify whether it includes only vested amounts or attempts to divide all account balances as of a certain date. Our advice? Always confirm the vesting status and write the order accordingly to avoid future disputes or denied distributions.

