ILLINOIS MAINTENANCE / ALIMONY ISSUES.  IN ILLINOIS ALIMONY IS CALLED MAINTENANCE.  IT IS ALWAYS BEST TO CONSULT AN ATTORNEY, LAWYER. LAW FIRM FAMILIAR WITH FAMILY LAW WHENEVER A PERSON IN INVOLVED IN A DIVORCE ACTION (WHICH IS CALLED AN ACTION FOR DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE IN ILLINOIS).

MAINTENANCE / ALIMONY: There are no percentage guidelines as to how much maintenance (alimony) a spouse may be awarded from the other spouse. The award of maintenance to a spouse is unusual and some of the criteria to determine whether a spouse should be awarded maintenance is: the length of marriage of the parties, the earning potential of the parties, the current earnings of the individual parties, the educational level of the parties, the assets awarded to each party in the divorce decree, the potential earnings from the assets awarded to each party in the divorce decree, the health of each party, etc. Unless provided otherwise in the divorce decree or court order, maintenance terminates upon proper motion and proof at a hearing that the spouse receiving maintenance is residing with another individual on a resident conjugal basis (that is proof of actual physical sexual intercourse. Some judges may say that just because two unrelated parties of the opposite sex are living together does not prove that they are having sex! Also, just because a former spouse may go to a hotel or her friend's home to have sex on occassion is not sufficient in and of itself.) Unless the divorce decree states that the maintenance award is non-modifiable, either party may file a petition in court seeking to reduce or increase the maintenance payments based upon a change in circumstances (eg. payor loses his job or receives a substantial increase in pay).  TO AGREE TO PAY A SPOUSE MANTENANCE (ALIMONY) OVER A PERIOD OF TIME WITH NO TERMINATION DATE IS VERY DANGEROUS AND COULD RESULT IN AN INDIVIDUAL PAYING HIS EX-SPOUSE MAINTENANCE FOR THE REST OF HIS OR HER LIFE.  IT CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH THE INPORTANCE OF HAVING A COMPETENT ATTORNEY REPRESENTING THE PARTIES INVOLVED WHEN THERE IS AN ISSUE OF MAINTENANCE (ALIMONY).

Maintenance payments made pursuant to a court order are taxable income to the recipient and tax deductible to the payor of said payments. In some cases the court may order that the non-custodial parent pay unallocated maintenance and child support in one sum in order to give the non-custodial parent an income tax deduction for the total amount of the payments made which would result in the recipient paying income tax on the total amount received. This is usually done when the custodial parent is in a much lower income tax bracket which hopefully will result in the custodial parent receiving a larger sum of money (net of income taxes) with the custodial parent making a larger payment but also enjoying the advantage of reducing his income tax liability.

Maintenance / unallocated maintenance and child support payments are normally withheld from the payor's paycheck and sent directly to the Illinois State Disbursement Unit for transmittal to the recipient of the funds. This way the recipient does not have to beg for the maintenance she / he has been awarded and is legally entitled to or wait until the other spouse feels that he is ready to pay her.

THE AWARD OF MAINTENANCE (ALIMONY) IS TAX DEDUCTIBLE TO THE PAYOR AND TAXABLE INCOME TO THE RECEIPENT PROVIDED THE ORDER OF DECREE CONTAINS THE SPECIFIC LANGUAGE NECESSARY.

This website does not provide legal advice but instead is meant to give general information and should not be relied upon without seeking competent legal advice relating to your specific situation. What generally may be true may not apply in your case depending upon the specific facts and circumstances involved. Nothing contained in this website is meant to create an attorney-client relationship and no attorney-client relationship is created until a written retainer agreement is executed by the attorney and client and a retainer fee is paid to the attorney.