Many spouses are awarded alimony, or spousal maintenance, both during and after an Illinois divorce. Yet while alimony used to be nearly ubiquitous for women, who were generally the spouse responsible for raising children, Illinois law has changed to reflect the fact that women are often at least as active in the workforce as their partners.
Among other modifications that modernized the law, there is now no guarantee that a wife will get either full custody or spousal maintenance after a divorce. However, if one spouse would be at a significant financial disadvantage after a marriage ends, a court may order alimony payments. Here are some factors that can influence whether spousal maintenance will be part of your divorce decree.
Did One Spouse Make Significantly More Than the Other?
If one spouse outearned the other throughout the marriage and the quality of life of the lesser-earning spouse would be significantly diminished after the divorce, a court may order temporary spousal maintenance even if the lesser-earning spouse is working. Unless the marriage lasted more than 20 years, spousal maintenance will likely only be temporary until the lesser-earning spouse has enough time to get on his or her feet after the divorce.
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