Getting divorced can significantly change your financial situation. This is especially true for disabled spouses, homemakers, and stay-at-home parents. Alimony, also known as “spousal maintenance” in Illinois law, is financial support that a spouse provides the other spouse during or after divorce. If you are getting divorced in Illinois, it is essential to know how and when spousal maintenance is awarded.

Why Spousal Maintenance is Awarded in Illinois

The purpose of spousal maintenance is to minimize the negative financial impact a divorce has on a spouse who is unable to support themselves without assistance. A divorcing spouse may also be entitled to spousal maintenance through an existing prenuptial or postnuptial agreement. Spouses may also request spousal maintenance from the court. When deciding whether to award spousal support, Illinois judges consider the spouses’ financial and employment circumstances as well as factors such as:

• The spouses’ future earning capabilities
• Each party’s financial needs
• How long it will take for the spouse requesting alimony to become financially self-supporting
• The length of the marriage and the standard of living in the marriage
• Whether a spouse contributed to the advancement of the other spouse’s education and career

The Amount That a Spouse Receives in Alimony  

If the court determines that a spouse is entitled to alimony based on the factors listed above, the next step is to determine the amount and duration of spousal maintenance payments. Sometimes, spouses can agree on a spousal maintenance arrangement. Collaborative law and mediation are methods of dispute resolution that may help a divorcing couple avoid litigation and reach an agreement. In other cases, the court determines maintenance payments using a statutory formula. The court may deviate from this formula if the spouses’ combined yearly net income is greater than $500,000 or if the circumstances necessitate deviation.

When divorce proceedings begin, it can throw everything else in your life into a state of uncertainty. Life continues while the legal issues are getting worked out, with bills to pay and obligations to meet. Because of this, sometimes an Illinois court will order temporary relief to one spouse in order to get through the period of the proceedings, including temporary parental responsibilities, child support, or spousal support. 

Parental Responsibilities and Child Support 

Most temporary relief orders asked for in Illinois courts have to do with the arrangements for any children of a divorcing couple. It is common for one parent to seek a temporary order of parenting time simply to ensure the children are permitted to remain in their current situation. Forcing children to move abruptly, only to possibly return them to the previous situation, is generally held to not be in their best interests. Alternatively, parental responsibilities can be contested for more malicious reasons. For example, in some divorce cases, particularly those that are contentious, it is not unheard of for one parent to attempt to get possession of the children solely to cause a disruption in the lives of the children and the former spouse.

Child support is another major factor. The costs of raising a child cannot be paused while the divorce is ongoing, so a temporary order is often necessary. The court will generally assess the request by considering each parent’s income, the current situation, and the needs of the child. 

Spousal maintenance, spousal support, and alimony are all terms used to describe payments that one spouse may be ordered to pay to the other spouse as a result of a divorce. Typically, spousal maintenance is awarded when one spouse lacks sufficient income to support themselves in the lifestyle they have grown accustomed to during the marriage. Spousal maintenance may be awarded based on the directions contained in a prenuptial agreement, postnuptial agreement, or other valid marital agreement or it may be awarded on a case-by-case basis by the court. If you have reason to believe that you or your spouse will have to pay spousal support, you may have many questions about the amount and duration of the payments.  

When Does an Illinois Court Award Spousal Support?

If no valid marital agreement describes a spouse’s maintenance obligation, the court will decide whether or not maintenance is appropriate and necessary by weighing a number of factors. These factors typically include but are not limited to:

When a married couple divorces in Illinois, the court may require the higher-earning spouse to pay spousal support to the other spouse. Spousal support is also called spousal maintenance or alimony. The support is typically intended to be temporary and rehabilitative in nature, but there are exceptions. The higher-earning spouse provides payments to the recipient spouse until he or she can get back on his or her feet financially. The issue of the payment of spousal support may also be agreed upon ahead of time through a prenuptial agreement. Whether you are the payor or recipient of spousal support, you may want to know how long these payments will last. The answer depends on a variety of factors.

Temporary Spousal Support vs. Permanent Spousal Support

If you and your spouse agreed to a spousal support arrangement in a Marital Settlement Agreement, the payments will end according to that agreement. When the court assigns spousal support, it is typically intended to last long enough for the recipient to gain the education, training, skills, and employment needed to become financially independent. Illinois law provides a formula for calculating the duration of a spousal support order that depends upon the length of the marriage. Longer marriages generally lead to proportionately longer orders for spousal support.

In some cases, the court will award permanent spousal support to a spouse. This typically happens when the spouses were married for longer than 20 years and the lesser earning spouse sacrificed education and employment to be a homemaker or care for children.

Ending a marriage is difficult no matter who you are, but those getting divorced after not working outside of the home in many years face added challenges. If you are considering divorce and are a homemaker or stay-at-home mother or father, you probably have many questions. Will I be awarded spousal support even if I initiate the divorce? How can I find a job to support myself without work experience? Will I receive additional child support because I do not have a job?

The answer to many of these questions will depend on your unique circumstances. If you are a stay-at-home parent or have otherwise not worked outside of the home and plan to divorce, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

You May Qualify for Spousal Maintenance

When deciding whether or not to award spousal maintenance, Illinois courts consider many factors. These include, but are not limited to: