Vesting Schedules and Forfeitures
Many employer-sponsored 401(k) plans, including those offered by business entities like the New orleans pelicans, nba, LLC 401(k) plan, include employer contributions that are subject to vesting schedules. An employee may only be partially vested at the date of divorce. In this case, the QDRO only applies to the vested portion unless specified otherwise in the court order.
Any unvested employer contributions typically revert to the plan if the employee terminates service before becoming fully vested. It’s important to address this in the QDRO language to avoid inadvertently awarding non-existent funds to the alternate payee.

