Employee and Employer Contributions
In general, employee contributions are always fully vested, meaning they belong entirely to the employee and can be divided. Employer contributions, however, follow a vesting schedule, which can result in some funds not being available for division if the participant hasn’t met the required years of service.
During the QDRO drafting process, it’s critical to:
- Request a breakdown of vested vs. unvested balances
- Clarify whether the alternate payee (the spouse receiving the benefits) will share only in the vested amounts
- Ask whether future vesting is considered (some QDROs allow the alternate payee to retain a pro rata share of future vesting)

