Employee vs. Employer Contributions
401(k) plans typically have two types of contributions:
- Employee contributions: Always 100% vested and freely divisible through a QDRO.
- Employer contributions: May be subject to a vesting schedule. If the employee isn’t fully vested, the non-vested portion may be forfeited and thus not divisible.
Your QDRO must clarify whether the alternate payee — usually the non-employee spouse — is receiving a portion of the total account, or just the vested portion. At PeacockQDROs, we ensure this detail is clearly addressed.

