Employee and Employer Contributions
Most 401(k) plans, including the Top Concepts 401(k) Plan, include contributions made by both the employee (participant) and the employer. While employee contributions are always 100% vested, employer-matching contributions often follow a vesting schedule. That means not all the “account total” is available for division under a QDRO, depending on how long the employee was with the company.
A proper QDRO must distinguish between vested and unvested amounts, and may either:
- Award a percentage of the vested account balance as of a specific date (usually the divorce date), OR
- Award a percentage that grows over time, which may include future vesting (if agreed upon)

