Unvested Employer Contributions
If the plan includes employer contributions, it’s likely that some or all of those funds are subject to a vesting schedule. That means the employee must remain employed for a certain number of years before owning the funds outright.
The QDRO should specify what happens to unvested amounts. If the employee doesn’t stay long enough to fully vest, the alternate payee (usually the ex-spouse) typically loses the unvested portion too. We help clients draft language that accounts for current and future vesting appropriately.

