Dividing Employee and Employer Contributions
Employee contributions are always fully vested and belong to the participant. These can be divided easily using a QDRO. Employer contributions, however, may be subject to a vesting schedule. If the employee hasn’t reached the necessary years of service, some or all of those employer contributions may not be included in the marital estate.
When drafting the QDRO, we request a detailed breakdown of vested versus unvested employer contributions, so we can advise our clients whether percentages should apply to the entire balance, or to only vested funds as of the date of division.

