Illinois Alimony Laws: A Guide to Spousal Maintenance

The first question is whether maintenance is appropriate, not how much a formula produces. Under 750 ILCS 5/504, the court considers all relevant factors without regard to marital misconduct. If the court does not find maintenance appropriate, it bars maintenance.

The statutory factors can be summarized as follows:

1. Each spouse’s income and property.
2. Each spouse’s financial needs.
3. Each spouse’s realistic present and future earning capacity.
4. Impairment of earning capacity because of domestic duties or education or career opportunities that were delayed or given up.
5. Any impairment of the paying spouse's realistic present or future earning capacity.
6. The time needed for the spouse seeking maintenance to obtain education, training or employment.
7. How parental responsibility arrangements affect the ability to work.
8. The standard of living established during the marriage.
9. The length of the marriage.
10. Each spouse’s age, health, station, occupation, income sources, employability, estate and liabilities.
11. All public and private income sources, including disability and retirement income.
12. Tax consequences.
13. Contributions to the other spouse’s education, training, career or professional license.
14. Any valid agreement between the spouses.
15. Any other factor the court finds just and equitable.

These factors explain why an income difference alone does not settle the question. Property, work history, health and family responsibilities belong in the same review. The firm can discuss those issues in the context of a particular case; see Chicago spousal maintenance representation.

Tax consequences are a statutory factor. Consult a tax professional about tax questions rather than treating a maintenance calculation as tax guidance.

After finding maintenance appropriate, the court determines whether the guideline requirements are met. Under 750 ILCS 5/504, those requirements include combined gross annual income below $500,000 and no obligation for the paying spouse to pay child support or maintenance from a prior relationship. Guidelines apply unless the court finds them inappropriate.

The guideline amount and 40% cap

1. Calculate 33 1/3% of the paying spouse’s net annual income.
2. Subtract 25% of the receiving spouse’s net annual income.
3. Check whether that amount, added to the recipient’s net income, exceeds 40% of the spouses’ combined net income.
4. Apply the cap if necessary.

Gross income determines whether the income threshold is met. Net income is used in the amount formula. Under 750 ILCS 5/504, the statutory definitions of gross and net income exclude maintenance in the pending case.

Non-guideline maintenance and child support

Non-guideline maintenance follows the statutory factors. If guideline maintenance plus child support exceeds 50% of the paying spouse’s net income, the court may use non-guideline maintenance, non-guideline child support, or both. The court must explain its reasoning with reference to each relevant factor. A calculation does not replace those required findings.

The arithmetic does not establish entitlement to maintenance. A useful illustration must show both the initial formula and the cap. Let P represent the paying spouse’s net annual income and R represent the receiving spouse’s net annual income.

When the initial calculation would put the recipient above the 40% ceiling, the cap reduces the guideline amount. Checking only the first subtraction leaves out an important part of the law.

This illustrates the statutory formula, not a prediction. Real cases require the correct income definitions, an eligibility decision, review of guideline conditions, consideration of child support and the court’s findings.

Hypothetical example with numbers

Assume a hypothetical couple whose combined gross income is below $500,000, with no prior support obligations and no child support. The paying spouse's net annual income is $90,000 and the receiving spouse's net annual income is $30,000. These figures are invented to show the arithmetic.

Without the cap, the recipient would end up with $52,500, which is more than the $48,000 ceiling, so the cap lowers the result. For duration in this example, a marriage of 12 years when the action was commenced gives 12 × .52 = 6.24 years. This is an illustration of the formula, not a prediction or a quote, and a court may find the guidelines inappropriate or order non-guideline maintenance.

To run the numbers, use the Illinois maintenance calculator.

Here is a second hypothetical, again with combined gross income below $500,000, no prior support obligations and no child support. The paying spouse's net annual income is $75,000 and the receiving spouse's net annual income is $12,000. The marriage had lasted 8 years when the action was commenced. These figures are invented to show the arithmetic.

Here the initial calculation is below the cap, so the cap does not change the result. In the first example, the cap lowered the amount. For an 8-year marriage, the duration factor is .36, so guideline maintenance would last 2.88 years. Both examples illustrate the formula only. The court first decides whether maintenance is appropriate at all, and it may find the guidelines inappropriate. To run your own numbers, use the spousal maintenance calculator on the firm's tools page.

If child support is also ordered and guideline maintenance plus child support would exceed 50% of the paying spouse's net income, 750 ILCS 5/504(b-1) lets the court use non-guideline maintenance, non-guideline child support or both. The child support side changes on January 1, 2027, when Public Act 104-733 lowers the shared physical care threshold in 750 ILCS 5/505 from 146 to 110 overnights per year. Read how to modify child support in Illinois for that side of the calculation.

For guideline duration under 750 ILCS 5/504, multiply the marriage length when the action was commenced by the applicable factor. Use the marriage length when the action was commenced, not an assumed divorce completion date.

Hypothetical duration calculation

For a hypothetical marriage lasting exactly 12 years when the action was commenced, the factor is .52. The calculation is 12 × .52 = 6.24 years. This illustrates guideline duration only. It does not establish entitlement, resolve a possible deviation or account for a discretionary credit for temporary maintenance.

A calculator is only as accurate as the income figures you enter. The firm's tools page includes an Illinois spousal maintenance calculator, a document checklist and consultation questions. Before using it, gather:

• Your last two years of filed federal and state income tax returns.
• Recent pay stubs showing year-to-date earnings and deductions.
• Records of other income, such as bonuses, commissions, rental income or business income.
• A completed Illinois Financial Affidavit. The guide to the Illinois financial affidavit explains how to fill it out.
• The date the divorce action was commenced, which sets the marriage length used for duration.

In Cook County, Circuit Court Rule 13.3.1 generally requires each party to serve a completed Financial Affidavit in proceedings to establish, modify or enforce maintenance, and Rule 13.3.2 requires proof of income with it, including the last two calendar years of filed tax returns and the most recent pay stub showing year-to-date earnings and deductions. See the court's Part 13 domestic relations rules.

If you need support while the case is pending, see how a motion for temporary relief works. For an overview of the statute, read the guide to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act.

Under 750 ILCS 5/504, the court must state whether maintenance is fixed-term, indefinite, reviewable or reserved. Those labels matter when reading the judgment.

Read the label together with the amount, payment terms, review provisions and modification language. Our guide to the stages of divorce in Illinois provides related context for reading financial provisions within the larger case.

A spouse does not necessarily have to wait for the final judgment to request support. Under 750 ILCS 5/501, either spouse may petition for temporary maintenance. The request includes a financial affidavit supported by documents such as tax returns, pay stubs and bank statements.

Temporary support and the final maintenance decision are related but distinct questions. A temporary payment does not, by itself, tell you the amount or duration of the final award.

Under 750 ILCS 5/504, the court may, in its discretion, credit temporary maintenance paid under 750 ILCS 5/501 against guideline duration. That credit is not automatic. Both the temporary order and the final judgment need to be read carefully.

The firm can discuss maintenance alongside the other financial issues in a pending divorce. See Chicago divorce representation.

Under 750 ILCS 5/502, spouses may make a written settlement agreement in connection with the dissolution of their marriage addressing maintenance, property, support and parental responsibilities. Terms other than children’s support and parental responsibilities bind the court unless it finds the agreement unconscionable. The terms are set out in the judgment unless the agreement provides otherwise.

A postnuptial agreement signed to stay married is a different document; a lawyer should review its specific facts.

Under 750 ILCS 5/502, spouses may make maintenance non-modifiable in their settlement agreement. If they do not, maintenance is modifiable upon a substantial change in circumstances. This makes the wording of a settlement agreement important before it is signed and when a later change is being considered.

Property provisions of a settlement agreement are never modifiable under 750 ILCS 5/502(f). A maintenance clause and a property provision should therefore not be treated as interchangeable, even when they appear in the same settlement.

Income and property are also eligibility factors under 750 ILCS 5/504. Review support and property terms together rather than reading either in isolation. The firm's Chicago property division page discusses the property side of that review.

Illinois keeps separate rules for maintenance orders entered before January 1, 2019, because of how those payments are treated for federal income tax purposes. Under 750 ILCS 5/504(b-4), an order for maintenance, or for unallocated maintenance and child support, entered before that date and modified after December 31, 2018 keeps the same federal tax treatment unless both parties expressly agree otherwise and the agreement is included in the modification order.

When such an order is modified and its payments remain includable in the recipient's gross income and deductible by the payor for federal income tax purposes, Section 504(b-1)(1)(A-1) uses a different guideline formula: 30% of the payor's gross annual income minus 20% of the payee's gross annual income. The result, added to the payee's gross income, may not exceed 40% of the parties' combined gross income. The parties can expressly provide otherwise in the modification order.

This older formula uses gross income, not net income, so it produces a different number than the formula above. Ask a tax professional about the tax effect. For the court process, see post-decree motions in Illinois, and for agreements see marital settlement agreements in Illinois.

Under 750 ILCS 5/510, unless otherwise agreed in a written agreement set out in the judgment or approved by the court, the obligation to pay future maintenance ends on:

• The death of either spouse.
• The remarriage of the spouse receiving maintenance.
• The recipient’s cohabitation with another person on a resident, continuing conjugal basis.

The recipient must give the paying spouse at least 30 days’ notice of an intent to marry, unless the decision is made within that period, in which case notice is due within 72 hours of getting married. The statutory cohabitation language is specific. A general description of someone’s relationship does not replace review of the facts and the agreement.

If the question is whether a new relationship could affect maintenance, see dating during a divorce in Illinois.

Termination of future maintenance and collection of overdue installments are separate questions. Review the order and payment history before drawing conclusions about either.

Under 750 ILCS 5/504, maintenance installments are judgments, and a lien arises for overdue amounts. Unpaid maintenance should be reviewed against the order’s amount, payment schedule and actual payment history.

Under 750 ILCS 5/508, in enforcement proceedings, the court must order the non-complying party to pay the prevailing party’s costs and reasonable attorney’s fees when the failure to comply was without compelling cause or justification. This does not mean every enforcement request results in a fee award.

A Chicago family court order enforcement lawyer can review the judgment and claimed missed payments. See the court order enforcement fee page for the firm’s fee terms.

Separately, 750 ILCS 5/504 permits maintenance to be secured by life insurance on the paying spouse. Whether security is addressed, and what the order requires, should be checked in the judgment or agreement.

Chicago Family Attorneys LLC serves Cook, DuPage, Lake and Will counties. We focus only on family law. Initial consultations are free for people seeking to hire an attorney.

Limited-scope representation is a flat fee for a defined task, quoted after a consultation and usually paid up front, though in some cases in two installments.

Full representation starts with an initial payment of $1,500 to $2,500, followed by $500 to $650 per month beginning 30 days after the initial payment while representation remains active. It covers drafting, hearings, motions and phone calls within the agreed scope.

Enforcing an existing maintenance order is billed differently: an individually quoted upfront amount plus $350 per hour. See court order enforcement fees.

Court filing costs, expert fees, service costs and evaluation costs are separate. The client pays them and the firm does not advance them. The written agreement confirms the fee, covered work and expenses before engagement. Fee ranges shown are not a quote for your matter. Call 312-965-5618 for a quote.

Review spousal maintenance lawyer fees, limited-scope family law fees and the family law pricing guide. For broader budgeting, read how much an Illinois divorce costs.

Under 750 ILCS 5/508, after notice and a hearing and consideration of the parties’ financial resources, the court may order a contribution toward costs and attorney’s fees, including interim fees in a pending divorce. A contribution is not guaranteed.

Book a free consultation. Call 312-965-5618.

• 750 ILCS 5/504: Maintenance eligibility, guidelines, duration and security
• 750 ILCS 5/501: Temporary maintenance
• 750 ILCS 5/502: Settlement agreements and modification terms
• 750 ILCS 5/508: Attorney’s fees and enforcement costs
• 750 ILCS 5/510: Termination of future maintenance

Bring your questions and the documents you have. The initial consultation is free for people seeking to hire an attorney, and the firm confirms its fee and the covered work in writing before you engage it. Call 312-965-5618 or book online.