1. Employee vs. Employer Contributions
Participant contributions to the plan are typically 100% vested, meaning the employee owns these funds outright. Employer contributions, however, may follow a vesting schedule. In a divorce, this can significantly affect the alternate payee’s (usually the non-employee spouse’s) share.
If the employer contributions aren’t fully vested at the time of divorce, a QDRO can’t assign those unvested funds unless the participant becomes vested later. We often include conditional language in QDROs just for that reason.

