Alimony, Maintenance, Spousal Support

In an Illinois Divorce case, Maintenance, Alimony and Spousal Support are all one in the same depending on what statute or code you’re referring to.  Most laypeople call it alimony.

Unlike child support, there are no hard and fast rules regarding whether maintenance is appropriate and if so, what the amount or duration of maintenance should be. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act provides guidance for determining whether maintenance is appropriate, and if so, how much and for how long by weighing the following factors:

1. The income and property of each party.
2. The needs of each party.
3. The present and future earning capacity of each party.
4. Any impairment of the present and future earning capacity of the party seeking maintenance due to that party devoting time to domestic duties or having foregone or delayed education, training, employment, or career opportunities due to the marriage.
5. The time necessary to enable the party seeking maintenance to acquire appropriate education, training, and employment, and whether that party is able to support himself or herself through appropriate employment or is the custodian of a child making it appropriate that the custodian not seek employment.
6. The standard of living established during the marriage.
7. The duration of the marriage.
8. The age and the physical and emotional condition of both parties.
9. The tax consequences of the property division upon the respective economic circumstances of the parties.
10. Contributions and services by the party seeking maintenance to the education, training, career or career potential, or license of the other spouse.
11. Any valid agreement of the parties.
12. Any other factor that the court expressly finds to be just and equitable.

You need to speak with an experienced attorney and/or obtain a second opinion on your potential right to receive or duty to pay maintenance.  As most issues in a divorce, there are vast differences between cases in whether maintenance should be paid, the amount that should be paid and duration it should be paid for.

In some cases, maintenance is not even sought.  In some, it is sought but not awarded. For example, in a short-term marriage where the earnings of both parties are substantially the same, it is doubtful maintenance would be appropriate.  Each party is “made whole” by an equitable division of the assets.  Conversely, if there was a long-term marriage with few assets and there is a substantial difference between the spouse’s income (or potential for income), maintenance is probably appropriate.

When ordered, maintenance is typically tax deductible by the obligor (the person who pays) and taxable to the obligee (the person who receives).  There are reasons that maintenance would terminates by operation of law, ie. the death of either party or the remarriage or cohabitation with another adult by the obligee.  In other situations it may terminate by its own terms—ie. a specified period of time or amount.

The obligee generally has a duty to rehabilitate himself or herself into the workplace and attempt to become self-supportive.  Exceptions to the obligation to try and “rehabilitate” oneself exist, and are usually due to the recipient spouse’s age, health, or some other legitimate reason.  In cases where a spouse cannot be rehabilitated, maintenance may be permanent. Sometimes in lieu of maintenance, a disproportionately favorable award (more than 50%) of the marital assets is awarded to the lesser-earning spouse.

Whether or not maintenance is awarded, the duration it is awarded for, and the amount that is ordered to be paid is very fact specific.  This issue is one of the topics you should discuss during your initial consultation.