In this article, our Cook County spousal maintenance lawyers explain recent changes to Illinois spousal maintenance laws. We explain the effect of Illinois raising the income threshold for application of statutory maintenance guidelines, the difference between permanent maintenance and maintenance for an "indefinite period," and how some people may be paying less in maintenance under the new alimony law.

In this article, our Cook County alimony attorneys explain how maintenance payments impact child support obligations. Child support obligations are based on the "net income" of each parent relative to the other.  Maintenance payments from one parent to the other serve to increase the net income of the recipient and reduce the net income of the payor. This would reduce the payor's child support obligation accordingly.  In the article, we explain how this works when multiple families are involved.

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In this article, our Cook County spousal maintenance lawyers explain the factors that Cook County courts consider when determining the amount and duration of alimony payments, including the income and needs of each party, the duration of the marriage, and the standard of living during the marriage. If maintenance is appropriate, the court is instructed to use specific formulas to determine both the amount and the duration of the award in most cases.  In certain cases, courts are permitted to deviate from the statutory formulas, in which case the divorce court will use the statutory factors to determine the amount and duration of the maintenance award.