Employee vs. Employer Contributions
401(k) plans like the Graham’s 401(k) Plan often include both employee salary deferrals and separate employer contributions. While an employee’s contributions and earned investment gains are automatically considered the employee’s property, employer contributions may be subject to vesting schedules—meaning the employee has to work for the company for a certain period before fully owning those contributions. When drafting your QDRO, it’s important to define whether the alternate payee will receive only the vested account balance or also a share of future vesting.

