Employee vs. Employer Contributions
Employee contributions are usually fully vested immediately, meaning they are available for division in a divorce without restriction. However, employer contributions often come with a vesting schedule. This means your spouse may only be entitled to a percentage of those employer funds based on how long the contributing employee has worked for the company.
In QDRO drafting, it’s critical to determine the date of divorce or other valuation date and confirm what portion of the employer’s contribution was vested as of that date. Unvested funds are generally not divisible unless the employee vests later, and your QDRO language must be clear about whether gains or losses on those assets should be assigned to the alternate payee post-divorce.

