1. Dividing Employee and Employer Contributions
This plan likely includes both employee salary deferrals and employer matching or profit-sharing contributions. One of the first questions to ask is whether employer contributions are fully vested. Many 401(k) plans use a graded or cliff vesting schedule; if your spouse isn’t fully vested, the non-vested portion may not be available to divide.
A well-crafted QDRO will specify that only the vested portion of employer contributions is included in the allocation—or state whether it’s just the employee’s portion that should be divided. Don’t rely on generic percentages. Precision matters.

