Am I going to pay alimony? If so, how much?
As with most legal questions, the short answer is “it depends.” Illinois law establishes specific benchmarks and guidelines for family courts to use in calculating spousal maintenance (formerly known as alimony). However, the law also gives the court significant discretion to deviate from the guidelines if warranted under the circumstances. Here’s what you need to know about how maintenance is calculated in divorces in Illinois.
Step 1: Is maintenance warranted at all?
Not every divorce in Illinois results in an award of alimony. The court must first determine whether it’s appropriate to award maintenance at all. The law gives the court numerous factors to consider, including:
- The income and property owned by each spouse.
- Each spouse’s financial needs.
- Each spouse’s realistic earning capacity.
- Any impairments of the spouses’ earning capacities due to the time and efforts they devoted to the marriage (for instance, if one spouse delayed education or left the workforce for a time due to the marriage).
- The time needed to acquire education, training, and employment for the spouse seeking alimony.
- The standard of living that was established during the marriage.
- The duration of the marriage (measured from the day you were married to the day you filed for divorce)
- The age, health, station, occupation, income sources, skills, employability, estate, liabilities, and needs of each spouse
- All sources of public and private income
- Tax consequences of alimony
- Contributions and services made by the party seeking maintenance to the other spouse’s education, training, or career
- Any valid agreement of the parties
- Any other factor that the court finds just and equitable
With such a long list of factors, the family court has considerable discretion in determining whether to award alimony or not. If the court does decide to award spousal maintenance, the next step is to calculate “guideline maintenance.”
What is “guidelines maintenance” in Illinois?
In Illinois, most awards of maintenance are based on statutory guidelines. Guidelines maintenance is calculated as one-third of the paying spouse’s net annual income, minus one-fourth of the recipient spouse’s net annual income. For example, if the paying spouse has an annual income of $90,000 and the recipient spouse has an income of $40,000, the guidelines calculation would be one-third of $90,000, or $30,000, minus one-fourth of $40,000, or $10,000, for a maintenance award of $20,000.
However, there is also a cap on guidelines maintenance: the recipient spouse’s total income, including both alimony and their own income, cannot be more than 40% of the combined income of the two spouses. In the above example, the spouses’ combined income is $130,000, 40% of which is $52,000. Receiving $20,000 in alimony, when combined with their own income of $40,000, would leave the recipient spouse with $60,000 in total income, which is more than the 40% cap. Therefore, the guidelines maintenance award would be $12,000, just enough to bring the recipient up to the cap.
When an Illinois court may award non-guidelines maintenance
There are a few circumstances where a family court in Illinois may award something other than the guidelines calculation. First, if the couple’s combined income is $500,000 or more, then guidelines maintenance is automatically considered inappropriate. Second, if the paying spouse already has other child support or maintenance obligations that, when combined with the guidelines amount, would result in more than half of their income being garnished, the court will abandon the guidelines calculation.
Finally, the court has discretion to award a non-guidelines amount if one of the parties asks for it. To make that determination, the court is required to consider the same factors already listed above that apply to the determination of whether alimony is appropriate in the first place. If the circumstances merit deviation—and if your attorney makes the right legal arguments—then it’s possible for a court to award more or less than the guidelines amount.
Talk to an experienced Illinois divorce lawyer today
Because the rules surrounding alimony are complex and give the family court significant discretion, it’s in your interest to have experienced legal counsel on your side. That’s true whether your divorce is negotiated or litigated: someone who knows the law and the courts will put you in the best position to get an advantageous result as you move forward in your next stage of life.
If you’re concerned about alimony or any other aspect of your divorce, talk to an experienced attorney today. Give us a call or contact us online for a free consultation with Courtney Clark Law, P.C.
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