Employee and Employer Contributions
This 401(k) likely includes both employee deferrals and employer-matching contributions. Your QDRO must clearly state whether the division includes just the employee-contributed amount or both employee and vested employer contributions. This matters because:
- Vested employer contributions belong to the employee and are eligible for division.
- Unvested contributions may be forfeited and excluded from division unless retained until vesting.
If your marital settlement agreement doesn’t spell this out, your QDRO will need to define it clearly. Not doing so is one of themost common QDRO mistakes we see.

