Employee and Employer Contributions
The plan likely contains both employee contributions (money the participant personally contributed through salary deferrals) and employer contributions (such as profit-sharing or matching). Employee contributions are always 100% vested. However, employer contributions may be subject to a vesting schedule—this needs to be checked before division.
Make sure your QDRO clearly identifies whether the alternate payee (the spouse receiving a share) is entitled to a portion of just the vested portion or also future vesting. It’s a difference that can amount to thousands of dollars.

