Illinois has strict alimony guidelines. Get the guidance you need to successfully navigate your case, enforce orders if payments stop, and ask the court for modifications if your circumstances change.
Confidential. You speak with a licensed attorney, not an intake team.
Enforcement compels compliance with the existing order through wage garnishment, liens, judgments or contempt.
Modification asks the court to change the order after a substantial change in circumstances.
Courts generally won't reduce support that has already accrued, so a modification should be requested when the change happens.
Illinois law calls alimony “maintenance.” You may also hear it called spousal support. The guidelines answer three questions in order.
The court first decides whether maintenance fits, weighing each spouse's income, needs, earning capacity, any career set aside for domestic duties, the standard of living and the length of the marriage, without regard to marital misconduct.
When the guidelines apply, maintenance is 33⅓% of the payor's net income minus 25% of the recipient's, and the result can't push the recipient above 40% of combined net income.
Duration is a share of the marriage's length: 20% for marriages under 5 years, rising in steps to 80% for marriages of 19 to 20 years. For marriages of 20 years or more, it can equal the length of the marriage or be indefinite.
The statute sets no minimum length of marriage. Marriages under 5 years use the shortest multiplier, 20% of the marriage's length.
Enter yearly net incomes (after taxes) and the length of the marriage.
This uses the Illinois guideline formula in 750 ILCS 5/504(b-1). Guidelines generally apply when combined gross income is under $500,000 and the payor has no prior support obligation, and the court first decides whether maintenance is appropriate at all. It is an estimate, not legal advice.
Talk to an alimony lawyer about my numbersMost maintenance and post-decree problems fall into one of these. We handle them on both sides.
Temporary, short-term or longer-term support based on accurate financial information.
Changing an order after a substantial change in circumstances.
Arrears remain enforceable until paid, through garnishment, liens and judgments.
Holding a party accountable for willfully violating a court order, or defending against a claim.
When property, accounts or transfers ordered in the judgment never happen.
When a former spouse claims less income than they can earn.
Updating parenting time and decision-making after a substantial change.
When the other parent won't follow the schedule in the judgment.
Getting the retirement division in the judgment actually carried out.
Whether you are seeking support or being asked to pay it, the outcome should rest on real numbers and the legal standards that apply to your case.
Tiffany M. Hughes is the founding and managing partner of the firm, and she concentrates in family and matrimonial law. She has litigated high estate divorce cases, trials under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act, trials over the allocation of parental responsibilities, child support, maintenance, complex tax issues and post-decree matters. The firm's attorneys are Tiffany M. Hughes, Brittany Hines, Kaitlyn Kontopoulos and Leslie Fusinato.
Every consultation is with a licensed divorce and family law attorney. Not a salesperson, not a case manager, not an intake team.
We pursue discovery and financial documentation to challenge inaccurate income reporting.
We pursue contempt for willful violations, and we defend clients when noncompliance isn't willful, such as a genuine inability to pay.
Bring your judgment or your numbers and tell us what changed.
We read the judgment, the payment history and the financial picture.
A petition to set, enforce or modify maintenance.
An order that restores compliance or reflects your new circumstances.
I had an extremely difficult and time-consuming divorce and custody case, she always made me feel like I was important and that my case mattered to her.Sal L. · Divorce and custody client
6,000+ clients served over 15+ years, with 200+ client reviews. Every case is different, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Alimony and spousal support questions, answered by a Chicago spousal maintenance lawyer.
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