Employee vs. Employer Contributions
In the Immanuel Campus of Care 403(b) Retirement Plan, employee deferrals and employer contributions are often maintained in the same account but must be treated differently in a QDRO. Employee contributions are always 100% vested. However, employer contributions may be subject to a vesting schedule. If only part of the employer contributions are vested at the time of divorce, the QDRO must account for that.
It’s critical to determine what part of the total balance is employer vs. employee-funded and whether there are forfeitable (unvested) amounts at the time of the division. A properly drafted QDRO should account for this and either exclude or proportionally allocate vested and unvested balances.

