Employee and Employer Contributions
401(k) plans typically include two types of contributions:
- Employee Contributions: These are pulled directly from the employee’s paycheck and are 100% vested.
- Employer Contributions: Often subject to a vesting schedule, meaning the employee may not be entitled to keep 100% unless they’ve worked long enough.
In the context of this plan, any unvested employer contributions at the time of divorce should be clearly handled in the QDRO. One approach is to award the alternate payee a proportional share of only the vested balance.

