Employee and Employer Contributions
All employee contributions are 100% the property of the participant and considered marital property depending on state law. However, any employer matching contributions might be subject to vesting rules. This means some or all of that money may not belong to the participant until they’ve worked a certain number of years.
When drafting a QDRO, it’s critical to specify how to handle unvested employer contributions. Will the alternate payee receive only what’s vested as of the date of divorce, or will they receive a portion of what’s vested in the future? Either approach needs to be clearly defined in the order.

