1. Dividing Employee and Employer Contributions
This plan likely includes both employee salary deferrals and employer profit-sharing contributions. In a QDRO, you can specify whether the alternate payee (usually the ex-spouse) receives a portion of:
- The total account balance
- Only employee contributions
- Only vested employer contributions
Since employer contributions are often subject to a vesting schedule, it’s important to determine what portion of those contributions are vested as of the couple’s marital cutoff date (usually the date of separation or divorce filing). Unvested funds typically stay with the employee (the participant).

