1. Employee Contributions vs. Employer Contributions
The participant’s salary deferrals (employee contributions) are always fully vested. However, employer contributions may have a vesting schedule. If the participant isn’t fully vested in the employer match at the time of divorce, those unvested funds may not be available to split through the QDRO.
We always analyze plan-specific vesting rules to ensure that only vested funds are included in the distribution to the alternate payee. Unvested balances can cause confusion if not clearly addressed in the order.

