1. Employee vs. Employer Contributions
The participant likely contributed to the retirement account through salary deferrals. The employer— J proulx, Inc.. 401(k) profit sharing plan & trust —may also have contributed a matching or profit-sharing amount. It’s critical to determine:
- How much of the employer contributions are vested (earned) versus non-vested
- Whether those employer-funded amounts are to be shared with the alternate payee
Only vested funds can be divided. Your QDRO can be written to grant the alternate payee a share of just the vested balance as of the date of divorce or to delay calculation until vesting completes. But you must be careful—courts and plan administrators may have differing rules.

