Geneva, IL Alimony and Maintenance Lawyers

Attorneys for Spousal Support Matters in Kane County, DeKalb County, and Kendall County

Alimony, also called maintenance or spousal support, is a major concern among families who experience divorce. If one spouse has been the primary breadwinner while the other has focused on maintaining their home, home life, and raising their children, it can be worrisome to consider how the former homemaker will provide for themselves and their children. The laws in Illinois provide for this situation, although the exact nature of those laws has been in flux in recent years. Only an experienced and knowledgeable family law attorney, such as those at Serrano Hanson, will be able to tell you what you may expect in your own situation.

Maintenance Overview

Maintenance is an agreed upon payment by one spouse to the other as part of their obligation to support that spouse. It is not tied to the child support agreement. In Illinois, the courts may grant one of several types of maintenance, or alimony, as part of a divorce decree, depending on the details of the marriage and the parties involved. The courts will not weigh the actions of either spouse when determining whether or not to grant maintenance, even if one of the spouses is clearly at fault for the dissolution of the marriage. There are several maintenance decisions the court may make, including:

• Permanent maintenance. When the couple has been married for a long time and one of the spouses is not able to maintain their former lifestyle, the judge may decide to award that spouse permanent maintenance, which will last indefinitely.
• Temporary maintenance. Judges often grant this as a stop-gap measure while the divorce process is underway.
• Rehabilitative maintenance. One spouse may be required to pay this to the other spouse while they pursue education or other training that will enable them to enter the job market successfully.
• Reviewable maintenance. This option allows the court to review the maintenance agreement regularly in order to determine if the spouse receiving maintenance has become self-sufficient or is closer to that goal and makes adjustments to the maintenance agreement accordingly.

Illinois has enacted a standardized formula to determine both the amount of maintenance to be granted and the duration of time that one spouse will receive maintenance, as long as the combined gross income of both spouses is less than $500,000. To determine the amount of maintenance, the formula takes into account the difference in salaries between the partners. In order to establish the amount of time that the spouse is entitled to receive maintenance, a separate formula based on the length of the marriage will be used by a judge. While these rules are not hard and fast, if a judge chooses to deviate from the accepted formulas, they will need to write a statement explaining their decision.

If you are going through divorce proceedings and think that you may be entitled to maintenance, contact us today at 630-844-8781. At Serrano Hanson, we understand the difficult transitions that take place during a divorce, and we want to help you make this process as smooth as possible. We serve clients throughout Illinois, including those in Kane County, Kendall County, DeKalb County, DuPage County, Geneva, St. Charles, Batavia, South Elgin, and Campton Hills.