Termination of Maintenance

Maintenance, formerly known as alimony or spousal support, are funds paid by one party to the other either during a divorce proceeding or post judgment for the other party’s support.  Maintenance is awarded to a party after the court considers a variety of different factors. Under 750 ILCS 5/504, the maintenance provision, the court considers the (1) the income and property of each party, including marital property apportioned and non-marital property assigned to the party seeking maintenance as well as all financial obligations imposed on the parties as a result of the dissolution of marriage, (2) the needs of each party, (3) the realistic present and future earning capacity of each party, (4) any impairment of the present and future earning capacity of the party seeking maintenance due to that party devoting time to domestic duties or having forgone or delayed education, training, employment, or career opportunities due to the marriage, (5) any impairment of the realistic present or future earning capacity of the party against whom maintenance is sought, (6) the time necessary to enable the party seeking maintenance to acquire appropriate education, training and employment, and whether that party is able to support himself or herself through appropriate employment, (6.1) the effect of any parental responsibility arrangements and its effect on a party’s ability to seek or maintain employment, (7) the standard of living established during marriage, (8) the duration of the marriage, (9) the age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities, and the needs of each of the parties, (10) all sources of public and private income including, without limitation, disability and retirement income, (11) the tax consequences to each party, (12) contributions and services by the party seeking maintenance to the education, training, career or career potential, or license of the other spouse, (13) any valid agreement of the parties, and (14) any other factor that the court expressly finds to be just and equitable.

Under 750 ILCS 5/504 maintenance is calculated by taking 33 1/3% of the payor’s net annual income minus 25% of the payee’s net annual income. The amount calculated as maintenance should not result in the payee receiving an amount that is in excess of 40% of the combined net income of the parties when adding the amount calculated to the net income of the payee.

When maintenance is initially determined, it is determined with one of three designations: a fixed-term basis, indefinite basis, or reviewable basis. Indefinite maintenance is maintenance with no end date. Indefinite maintenance is only terminated when a spouse dies, the spouse receiving maintenance remarries, or when the spouse receiving maintenance cohabits on a “resident, continuing conjugal basis”. Determining cohabitation can be difficult because the court must determine the relationship is an intimate relationship that is similar to a marriage. When trying to show that a relationship rises to the level of cohabitating it is helpful to show when the relationship began, how much time the couple spends together, what activities the couple engage in, if the couple has overlapping personal or financial affairs, any major shared expenses between the couple, and vacations they have spent together.

Fixed-term maintenance is maintenance that specifies a time for maintenance to stop. Fixed-term maintenance is automatically terminated at the end of the period of time initially set out in the dissolution of marriage or in another written order approved by the court. Maintenance will then be barred after this fixed period elapses. If the court determines maintenance is appropriate and utilizes a fixed-term basis, this fixed term is based on the length of the marriage. 750 ILCS 5/504 explains that the duration of maintenance is calculated by multiplying the length of the marriage at the time the action was commenced by a percentage depending on the number of years married. This percentage increases as the duration of the marriage increases, and a court may find that marriages that lasted twenty or more years may order maintenance for a period of time equal to the length of the marriage or for an indefinite term.

Finally, when maintenance is determined on a reviewable basis, one of the options during the review is for maintenance to be permanently terminated. When reviewing maintenance, the court will use the factors above to determine if it is still appropriate for a party to receive maintenance. If a court finds that maintenance is inappropriate, the court shall bar maintenance as to the party seeking maintenance regardless of the length of the marriage at the time the action was commenced.

How maintenance may be modified or terminated first dependent on the order that awards it.  If it is allowed to be modified, the standard is to show there has been a substantial change in circumstances. There are factors for the court to consider in determining whether maintenance should be terminated. These factors, under 750 ILCS 5/510, are (1) any change in the employment status of either party and whether the change has been made in good faith, (2) the efforts, if any, made by the party receiving maintenance to become self-supporting and the reasonableness of the efforts where they are appropriate, (3) any impairment of the present and future earning capacity of either party, (4) the tax consequences of the maintenance payments upon the respective economic circumstances of the parties, (5) the duration of the maintenance payments previously paid (and remaining to be paid) relative to the length of the marriage, (6) the property, including retirement benefits, awarded to each party under the judgment of dissolution of marriage, judgment of legal separation, or judgment of declaration of invalidity of marriage and the present status of the property, (7) the increase or decrease in each party’s income since the prior judgment or order from which a review, modification, or termination is being sought, (8) the property acquired and currently owned by each party after the entry of the judgment of dissolution of marriage, judgment of legal separation, or judgment of declaration of invalidity of marriage, and (9) any other factor the court expressly finds to be just and equitable.

The Law Office of Erin M. Wilson is available to consult you regarding whether the termination of maintenance is an option you may pursue. Contact The Law Office of Erin M. Wilson at 312-767-4220 to schedule a consultation.

NOTICE: This blog is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be construed as providing legal advice. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have regarding this blog post.