Alimony during Divorce Proceedings in Illinois

No, spousal maintenance is not mandatory in Illinois. In fact, maintenance is not a part of most divorce cases. Maintenance is only paid when one party makes significantly more money than the other party. If you want to see how much alimony could be paid in your case, use our maintenance calculator.

There are a variety of spousal support factors that the court looks at to determine whether it should be a part of the case. Some factors include each party’s needs, the duration of the marriage, and prior legal agreements.
In general, someone can ask for spousal support if they are divorcing or separating and need financial support from the other party. But the final decision is up to the courts.

The longer you are married the more likely it is the court will order maintenance. But there is no set number of years where spousal support becomes mandatory.
The length of the marriage also impacts how long alimony lasts. In a marriage of under five years, the spousal support will last for 20 percent of the marriage's length. In a marriage over 20 years, the spousal support can last 100 percent of the marriage's length or indefinitely.

Neither party automatically gets half of everything in Illinois. Instead, the court goes through the property division process to see how things get divided. Illinois courts do not assume everything is split evenly, because they say each party should get what they deserve.

There is no set amount of alimony a party gets. Alimony is different for every case because it is calculated based on each party’s income and the length of the marriage.