Employee and Employer Contributions
Most 401(k) accounts consist of employee salary deferrals and employer matching or discretionary contributions. A QDRO needs to clearly state whether the alternate payee is receiving a portion of:
- All contributions (employee and employer), or
- Only employee deferrals (common in some divorce settlements)
In some cases, the employer contributions are subject to vesting. That means you’ll need to determine how much of those funds are “vested”—or owned outright by the employee—at the date used to divide the account (often called the “valuation date”).

