Employee and Employer Contributions
Money in the account may come from two primary sources:
- Employee deferrals —these are fully vested and can be divided in a QDRO.
- Employer contributions —these are often subject to a vesting schedule. Only the vested portion can be awarded to the alternate payee.
It’s critical to determine how much of the account balance is nonforfeitable (vested) at the time of divorce or division. Many participants mistakenly believe the full balance is theirs to divide, which isn’t always true under 401(k) terms.

