Employee vs. Employer Contributions
In most 401(k) plans, the participant contributes a portion of their salary, and the employer may match a percentage. If your divorce judgment states that a spouse gets 50% of the plan assets, it’s important to determine whether that includes only employee contributions, or both employee and vested employer contributions.
Since this is a corporate-sponsored plan, matching may follow a vesting schedule. Only vested employer contributions can be divided under a QDRO. If the participant isn’t 100% vested, the alternate payee’s share might be less than expected unless the QDRO specifies how to handle forfeitures.

