In this article, our Chicago alimony attorneys discuss the process of how Chicago divorce courts use to make decisions regarding to award spousal maintenance during a divorce.  The courts determine a number of factors to determine whether maintenance is appropriate and if so, how much spousal maintenance will be paid to the other party. .  Property subject to division by the court includes, but is not limited to, homes, automobiles, furniture, bank accounts, retirement accounts, pensions, stocks, and business interests. The second important issue the court will deal with when dividing the martial estate is whether property is considered marital or non-marital.  Marital property means all property acquired by either spouse subsequent to the marriage. Although an equitable division of the marital estate is considered on a case-by-case basis, the court is prohibited from considering marital misconduct when dividing the marital estate.  Property will be divided fairly without the court acknowledging the transgressions of either spouse.

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In this article, our Chicago spousal maintenance attorneys discuss both dissipation and contribution and how they are factored into Chicago divorce proceedings.One of the most time consuming challenges in any divorce is sorting through finances of both parties of a divorce. Dissipation and contribution are typically overlooked when analyzing marital finances because they both deal with money or assets that have already been spent.

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Our Chicago spousal maintenance attorneys discuss how maintenance payments can affect child support obligations. We talk about how if these payments are received, what can be expected by the courts to determine additional monetary awards and how they're calculated. Our attorneys explain it in clear and understandable terms so you have a better idea of what to expect when spousal maintenance payments are factored into child support payment calculations.  Since each parent's child support obligation is based on the parents' relative income, the greater your income as compared to the other parent, the less you will receive in child support.    

Therefore, if you are the recipient of child support, then any maintenance payments that you receive, whether from the payor parent or from a different ex-spouse, are likely to be factor reducing the payor parent's child support obligation.  So, the bottom line is that maintenance payments paid from one parent to the other affect both parents' "net incomes" for the purpose of calculating each parents' child support obligation, likely reducing the child support obligation of the party making maintenance payments.

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