1. Employee and Employer Contributions
Most 401(k) plans allow both employees and employers to contribute. While employee contributions are always 100% vested, employer contributions may be subject to a vesting schedule. If your spouse has unvested portions of their employer contributions, the alternate payee might not be eligible to share in those.
A good QDRO should:
- Define how only vested amounts are divided
- Exclude forfeited employer contributions from the division
- Clearly distinguish pre-marital, marital, and post-separation contributions

