Spousal maintenance in a divorce can be complicated in a wide variety of situations. In particular, couples in long-term marriages and high net worth couples tend to have more complexities to manage in spousal maintenance proceedings. Whether you believe you may be entitled to spousal maintenance in your divorce or have concerns about making spousal maintenance payments, you should know that the best Cook County spousal maintenance attorneys at our firm can assist you with your case.
Spousal maintenance is money paid from one spouse to the other as support. While the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) defines this kind of support as spousal maintenance, other states use terms you may have heard, such as spousal support or alimony. While spousal maintenance often is awarded in divorce cases, there are numerous situations in which one of the parties may be eligible to seek maintenance:Â
Other situations may arise in which one party becomes eligible to seek spousal maintenance. It is important to discuss your options with a spousal maintenance lawyer in Cook County if you have specific questions about your case.
The spouse who wants to receive maintenance must request it. The following are the general steps in a spousal maintenance case:Â
Courts in Cook County do not automatically address the issue of spousal maintenance unless one of the parties raises it. In other words, you cannot get spousal maintenance if you do not ask for it.
Once a Cook County court determines that spousal maintenance is appropriate, it will then calculate the amount of maintenance the spouse will receive. For any married couples that earn a combined gross income that totals less than $500,000 annually, there is now a formula that courts employ to determine the amount of maintenance. The formula makes the process more objective and streamlined. Here is how the maintenance calculation works:Â
The duration of spousal maintenance depends upon the length of the marriage. For couples married for more than 20 years, there are no set requirements that the court must follow for determining the duration of a maintenance award.
While spousal maintenance is not an issue in all Cook County divorces, many divorce cases in Chicagoland involve one of the spouses seeking spousal maintenance. If you have questions about obtaining spousal maintenance or your spousal support obligations under Illinois law, an experienced Cook County spousal maintenance attorney at our firm can speak with you today. Contact Arami Law for assistance with your alimony questions and any other legal matters arising in your Cook County divorce.
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