Known as alimony in most other states, spousal maintenance is meant to support one spouse during or after a divorce is finalized. The reasons for a spousal maintenance order will vary, but generally, it is to maintain their current standard of living. Only in extreme cases will spousal maintenance be granted indefinitely. To better understand the reasons for spousal maintenance, you should consult an attorney with experience in divorce cases.

Types of Spousal Maintenance

• Temporary Support: Typically only awarded while a divorce case is still pending. It enables the low-earning spouse to maintain their current financial status during the divorce process.
• Fixed-Term Support: Support granted for a set duration in which the paying spouse makes consistent payments to the low-earning spouse to keep them “afloat” while they work toward building themselves up financially. It usually lasts until the low-earning spouse completes job training or education. The court expects the recipient to make a good faith effort toward the completion of their educational goals or achieving self-sustaining employment.
• Reviewable Support: Similar to a fixed-term support order, the recipient must show proof of their continued efforts toward self-sustainment.
• Permanent Support: Granted in rare cases to spouses who cannot support themselves. This could be due to illness, injury, age, or other factors in a long-term marriage of at least 20 years.

How is Spousal Maintenance Calculated?

Illinois follows a basic formula for determining the total payment costs of spousal support. The formula takes 33 percent of the payer’s net income and subtracts 25 percent of the recipient’s net income. This provides the total for the yearly spousal maintenance payments. However, the recipient cannot receive more than 40 percent of the couple’s total combined net income.

How long spousal maintenance lasts is predicated predominantly on the duration of the marriage. Another formula is used in this case, similar to payments, except it takes the total years of marriage and multiplies it by a set percentage. Marriages of less than five years will be X years multiplied by 0.20.

While it is not ordered in every divorce case, spousal maintenance (which may also be known as alimony or spousal support) can be an important factor for some couples. This form of financial support will allow a spouse who relied primarily on their partner’s income during their marriage to support themselves and maintain their lifestyle. However, spousal maintenance will usually only last temporarily, so it is important to understand when it will end and make plans accordingly.

Types of Spousal Maintenance

Depending on a couple’s situation, different types of spousal support may be awarded, and the type of maintenance will affect how long it will be paid. These types include:

• Temporary maintenance - One spouse may be required to pay support to the other during the divorce process to ensure that they will be able to cover their ongoing expenses. These payments will be terminated when the divorce is finalized, and at that point, any support arrangements included in the divorce decree or judgment will go into effect.

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Getting divorced can have a major impact on your finances. You will probably need to make a number of adjustments as you shift from managing a home using the income that you and your spouse earned together to using a single income to cover your ongoing expenses. If there is a disparity between the income you earn and the amount your spouse makes, this could introduce additional complications into your divorce proceedings. In these cases, spousal maintenance, which is sometimes referred to as spousal support or alimony, may be appropriate.

When Is a Spouse Eligible to Receive Maintenance?

Spousal maintenance is not appropriate in every divorce, but it may be awarded if one spouse earns the majority of the family’s income or if the other spouse has been reliant on the wages and benefits earned by their former partner. For example, a stay-at-home parent may not currently earn any income, and their former spouse may be required to make ongoing payments to ensure that they can maintain their accustomed standard of living following the divorce.

Spouses may agree in their divorce settlement that maintenance will be paid, or the decision about whether to award maintenance may be left up to the judge in their case. This decision will be based on a number of factors, including the income each spouse earns, their ongoing needs, their ability to find work and earn suitable wages and benefits, and decisions about child custody and parenting time. A judge may also look at whether a spouse made sacrifices to their career because of the family or whether one spouse helped the other obtain education or training that helped them advance their career.

When spouses age 50 and older get divorced after decades of marriage, this is commonly known as gray divorce. People going through a gray divorce may have different concerns and priorities than younger divorcees have. One such area is spousal maintenance, in which someone who relied on their spouse’s income during the marriage will continue to receive financial support. Spousal maintenance is not mandatory but is often part of a gray divorce. The maintenance recipient may also be more dependent upon the monthly payments than younger divorcees. 

There are three main reasons why spousal maintenance in a gray divorce is different:

Length of the Marriage

Assuming that it was not a recent marriage, couples in a gray divorce have likely been married for decades. The number of years that you were married is how Illinois calculates how long the maintenance payments should last following the divorce. When spouses have been married for 20 years or more, courts will often award “permanent maintenance.” Maintenance without an end-date is a major factor in the long-term cost of the payments.

Spousal maintenance is not a requirement for every divorce agreement but is often included because it is considered fair compensation for the recipient. If there is a large income discrepancy between spouses, then the recipient may be entitled to financial support from the payor. What is a fair amount of maintenance to award and how long should the payments continue? Illinois courts consider factors such as the duration of the marriage, the income potential of the recipient, and how long the recipient may need to become self-supporting. There are other factors that can be relevant to a spousal maintenance ruling:

1. Standard of Living: The spousal maintenance recipient is not limited to receiving only enough support to live off of. If the spouses had an expensive lifestyle during their marriage, then it is reasonable for both spouses to be able to continue a similar lifestyle after the divorce. It would be unfair to expect a lower-income spouse to live a much poorer lifestyle while the other spouse keeps the same standard of living, especially if both spouses and their children had become accustomed to that lifestyle after several years.
2. Career Sacrifice: When one spouse becomes highly successful in their career, it is often possible because of sacrifices that the other spouse made. The other spouse may have foregone earning a college education or quit their job in order to raise the children or help their spouse start a new business. Now that they are separated, the other spouse may have difficulty finding a job to support themselves. They may need time to complete their college education or update their job skills. It is fair to expect the higher-income spouse to support the lower-income spouse if they owe their success in part to their spouse’s sacrifice.
3. Parental Responsibilities: Divorcing parents already have child support to cover their child-related expenses. However, the division of parenting time can have an indirect effect on the parents’ incomes. If one parent is responsible for significantly more parenting time, then they may be limited in the number of hours they can work or projects they can take on. With these limits to their ability to increase their income, they may be more reliant on spousal maintenance payments.

Contact a Naperville, Illinois, Divorce Attorney

Negotiating spousal maintenance can be tricky because there is greater flexibility in determining the amount and duration of the payments than with child support. A DuPage County divorce lawyer at Calabrese Associates, P.C., will help you determine what a fair maintenance agreement would be. To schedule a consultation, call 630-393-3111.

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