Yorkville Spousal Support Lawyers

Attorneys Assisting With Spousal Maintenance in Yorkville, Illinois Divorce Cases

When a couple is married, they will often make financial choices as a team. One person may take a higher-paying job while the other focuses on maintaining the household. These decisions can make sense while a marriage lasts. However, when a couple decides to get a divorce, one spouse may be in a more difficult financial situation, especially if they relied on the other spouse's income or made sacrifices to their career to handle family responsibilities.

These situations can be addressed through spousal support, which is meant to help ensure that both spouses will be able to support themselves and maintain the same standard of living after getting divorced as they enjoyed while married. Spousal support is known as spousal maintenance under Illinois law, and it is sometimes referred to as alimony. It can help to reduce a financial imbalance between spouses and make sure a person will have the time and resources they need to become financially independent.

The attorneys at Gateville Law Firm can help clients address concerns related to spousal maintenance as they proceed with the divorce process. We can work with spouses to negotiate divorce settlements that will include spousal support when necessary while ensuring that payments will be calculated using the right methods. Our goal is to help our clients complete the divorce process while protecting their financial interests and making sure they are prepared for the future.

Why a Spouse May Request Maintenance

Maintenance is not awarded in every divorce. When a person requests spousal support, the court may review different factors to determine whether ongoing support is needed. These factors may include each spouse's income and financial resources, their living standards while they were married, whether one spouse's career may have been affected by domestic duties or sacrifices they made for their family, and whether one party provided support for the other to help them further their career.

Spousal support may be appropriate in a variety of situations. A parent who left the workforce for 15 years to care for a couple's children may need time and financial help to go back to college and obtain a degree. A spouse who worked full time while a partner attended medical school may be entitled to support that reflects the higher income the other spouse now earns. Maintenance may also be appropriate when a spouse has a chronic illness or disability that limits their ability to work. In situations where spousal support may be needed, a couple may work together to negotiate a settlement that provides for ongoing payments as they complete an uncontested divorce.

How Spousal Maintenance Is Calculated

When the couple's combined gross annual income is less than $500,000, a formula will typically be used to calculate the amount of maintenance. The calculation takes 33.33 percent of the paying spouse's net income and subtracts 25 percent of the receiving spouse's net income. A limit will apply to the resulting amount, and the recipient's net income plus the maintenance they receive may not exceed 40 percent of the couple's combined income.

For example, consider a situation where one spouse earns $120,000 in net income per year, and the other earns $40,000. One third of $120,000 is $40,000, and one fourth of $40,000 is $10,000, which would result in spousal support of $30,000 per year. However, 40 percent of the couple's combined income of $160,000 is $64,000. Since the recipient already earns $40,000, maintenance would be capped at $24,000 per year.

How Long Spousal Support May Last

In most cases, spousal support will be paid for a specific period of time. This is known as fixed-term maintenance. The duration of payments will be a percentage of the total amount of time a couple was married. In cases where a marriage lasted for less than five years, maintenance will be paid for 20 percent of the length of the marriage. For each year after five years, the percentage used will increase. For example, if a couple was married for between 12 and 13 years, maintenance would be paid for 52 percent of the length of their marriage.

In certain cases, spousal maintenance may be reviewable. The court may specify a date on which the case will be reviewed to determine whether support should continue. If a person is able to support themselves after that date, maintenance may be terminated. If not, maintenance may continue, or it may be modified as needed. This option may be used in situations where a person needs support in order to return to college or re-enter the job market.

For marriages that lasted 20 years or longer, maintenance may have no end date. Indefinite spousal support may also be appropriate when a spouse has a disability or will be unable to work and support themselves for other reasons. This can make spousal support a key issue to address in a grey divorce.

Modifying or Ending Maintenance

Either spouse may ask the court to change maintenance in the years after a divorce. Like other types of post-divorce modifications, a person will usually need to show that there has been a substantial change in circumstances that requires a change to spousal support, such as the loss of a job or a serious illness that has affected a person's expenses.

Maintenance will end automatically when the recipient remarries, and it may also end if they begin to live together in a relationship similar to a marriage. Either party's death will also result in the termination of spousal support.

Frequently Asked Questions About Spousal Maintenance

Contact Our Yorkville, IL Spousal Support Lawyers

Spousal maintenance may serve an important role in helping a person succeed financially after a divorce. At Gateville Law Firm, our lawyers can help clients understand the best way to approach this issue, and we will advocate for solutions that will meet our clients' needs. Contact our Yorkville, Illinois spousal maintenance attorneys at 630-780-1034 to set up a consultation.