1. Employee vs Employer Contributions
Employee contributions are always fully owned by the participant. However, employer contributions may be subject to a vesting schedule. For example, your spouse may only be 60% vested depending on their years of service. A QDRO needs to account for this so you don’t expect to receive more than what’s legally available.
Always include exact language describing how unvested employer contributions should be handled if they become vested after the divorce but before the QDRO is processed.

