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Spousal Support & Alimony
- 22 Mar
Divorce is often very emotionally charged, leading to stressful and costly disputes if resolutions are not easily reached. As a divorce lawyer, our job is to make sure that our clients are supported by us and our paralegals during divorce cases so that they can move forward with their lives.
Alimony, also associated to as spousal support or maintenance, may be given to either spouse. The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act require the Judge to examine all relevant factors when deciding whether to give maintenance. In Illinois, courts don’t recognize the fault, or marital misbehavior, in setting the significance of alimony. Instead, a court will examine other relevant circumstances, including:
- tax values of the property division for each spouse’s economic conditions
- financial obligations for each husband and wife
- current and future potential earnings of each spouse
- both spouses’ income and property, comprising of marital property, granted to both spouses and any non-marital assets awarded to the spouse asking for alimony
- time it will take the spouse seeking alimony to obtain the education, training, and employment necessary to become self-supporting
- standard of living that was set by the marriage
- extent of the marriage
- any other factor that the court considers is fair and equal.
- any loss to the earning capacity of the spouse asking for alimony due to time spent on domestic obligations, childcare is an example, or a arrangement to delay or give up education, training, work, or career opportunities because of the union
- any valid agreement of the parties
- age and the physical and emotional health of both spouses
- whether the spouse requesting alimony made significant contributions to the other spouse’s education, training or career
Maintenance, also known as Alimony comes in many shapes and sizes Illinois law recognizes three forms of maintenance:
- Periodic or temporary maintenance
- Rehabilitative maintenance until the spouse can become supportive
- Permanent maintenance
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There is a small initial consultation fee, but if you retain Besserman Law Office, this amount will be deducted from the required retainer.
A common permanent maintenance case in Illinois is: The couple has been married for ten to twenty years. The children are out on their own or at the very least in a school. The husband has worked full-time in his business through the marriage and now makes a sufficient income. The wife has foregone career advancements in support of being a full-time homemaker. Possibly the wife has recently reentered the workforce. This is the ideal case for income equalizing: the parties’ earnings are added concomitantly and divided in half – with each spouse taking one-half of the consolidated income until a terminating event happens. A Terminating Event for maintenance purposes includes:
- Retirement of the payor spouse.
- Remarriage of the earning spouse
- Death of the getting spouse
- Resident, marital cohabitation with another on the part of the receiving spouse.
- Death of the payor spouse
The division of property, possessions, and financial assets can be a complex matter. The matter of maintenance, also known as alimony, may also be a consideration depending on the event. The divorce lawyers at Besserman Law will present you with guidance to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. We can guide you on how to manage many issues that include but are not limited to:
- Pensions
- Houses or Homes
- Household things or contents
- Furniture
- Heirlooms
- Items collected while together
- Bank accounts
- 401K Accounts
- Investments or Investment Properties
- Retirement
- Cars, Trucks, Boats, Motorcycles, ATVs, Jet Ski or Waverunners
- Social Security
- Inheritance funds
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If both spouses can become self-supporting, a court may not award any alimony, even if one spouse earns considerably more than the other. Courts can deal with any major discrepancy in earnings by giving more of the marital property, such as mutual funds, bank accounts, and any assets, to the lower-earning husband or wife.
A common regular alimony case in Illinois is: The parties have been married for ten to twenty years. Both parties have similar educational backgrounds. The husband has worked full time in his profession through the union and now brings in a comfortable income. The wife worked full time early in the union but stopped working outside the home when the kids were born. The wife wants training or additional instruction to be able to become self-supporting. The kids continue to be young – in elementary school. In this case, it’s very common to see unallocated support or regular care for a defined interval. The payor spouse will continue to supply support until the passing of a predetermined interval or a reviewable occasion.
Reviewable events in regards to maintenance purposes:
- Significant improvement in salary of the payee spouse
- The passage a predetermined time
- Child entering school or achieving a predetermined age
- Accomplishment of a certain level of education of the payee spouse
- Significant increase or decrease in the assets of the payor spouse
Adoption Attorneys, Custody Attorneys, Divorce Attorneys, Family Law Attorneys, Guardianships Attorneys, Premarital Agreements Attorneys, Spousal Support Attorneys. Get your divorce lawyer consultation today. There is a small initial consultation fee, but if you retain Besserman Law Office, this amount will be deducted from the required retainer.