Employee and Employer Contributions
QDROs can award a portion of either the total account balance or just specific contributions. For example:
- Employee Contributions: These amounts are typically fully vested and available to divide.
- Employer Contributions: These may be subject to a vesting schedule that could reduce the value of what’s available to be divided.
It’s critical in the QDRO to specify which parts of the plan are included. If you assume the spouse is entitled to one-half of the account, but half of the employer matching contributions aren’t vested yet, the result could differ significantly from what you expected.

