Illinois Maintenance (Alimony) FAQ's

1) Who is entitled to maintenance (alimony), and what are the criteria for awarding it?
Maintenance, also known as alimony or spousal support, may be awarded to either spouse. Judges don't consider marital misconduct or fault in deciding what is a fair alimony award. Instead, a judge considers other relevant factors, including:

1. the income and property of each party, including marital property awarded to both parties and non-marital property assigned to the spouse seeking maintenance
2. the needs of each spouse
3. the present and future earning capacity of each spouse
4. any impairment of the present or future earning capacity of the person seeking maintenance because that person is devoting time to domestic duties or has foregone or delayed education, training, employment, or career opportunities due to the marriage
5. the time necessary to enable the spouse seeking maintenance to acquire appropriate education, training, and employment, and whether that party is able to be self-supporting during that period (if the person is caring for children, the judge may find it's inappropriate for that spouse to work and order support
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 spouses
9. the tax consequences of the property division upon each person's economic circumstances
10. whether the spouse who is seeking maintenance made significant contributions to the education, training, career or career potential, or license of the other spouse
11. any valid agreement of the parties; and
12. any other factor that the court expressly finds to be just and equitable.

Where both spouses are able to be self-supporting, the court may not award any maintenance even if one spouse earns substantially more than the other. The earnings disparity is more likely to be equalized by distributing more of the marital estate to the lower-earning spouse.

2) Can a spouse receive temporary maintenance during the pendency of the divorce proceeding?
During the pendency of the divorce action, the judge may award temporary maintenance, or the spouses may agree to it. A temporary maintenance order ends when the judgment for dissolution is entered.

3) How long does maintenance last?
Once the judgment for dissolution is entered, a spouse receiving maintenance is expected to make good faith efforts, in light of age, skills, and life experience, to become self-supporting so that the support can be terminated. There are a number of different types of maintenance. Short-term rehabilitative maintenance enables the receiving spouse to gain skills for self-support. Longer term maintenance may be ordered for a set period and reviewed again to see if it should continue as is, be modified, or be ended. If a spouse can establish a permanent inability to become self-supporting, maintenance may be permanent.

4) Can maintenance be modified or terminated?
The parties may agree to make maintenance non-modifiable, or modifiable under specified circumstances. If they do not agree to non-modifiable maintenance, a maintenance award will terminate automatically upon the death, remarriage, or unmarried conjugal live-in relationship of the spouse being maintained.

5) What "change in circumstances" will support a petition for modification of maintenance?
Material changes in circumstances might include increased or decreased ability to pay, or a substantial change in the needs of either party. The same factors are considered in modifying as in an initial award of maintenance. A spouse receiving maintenance has an affirmative obligation to make an effort to become self-supporting. 

6) Does the supporting spouse's retirement justify termination or a decrease in maintenance?
Whether voluntary retirement will justify modification of maintenance depends upon the circumstances of the individual case. Relevant factors include the age, health status, motives and timing for the retirement, ability to pay maintenance after retirement, and the other spouse's ability to be self-supporting. Generally, the issue of retirement should be addressed in the marital settlement agreement or judgment.