By Leo Sokolov, Divorce and Family Law Attorney

In all divorces, the court is charged with basic principles it must follow to determine the financial aspects of each divorce. In simple terms, the court must:

• Identify marital and non-marital property—including marital and non-marital debt—and divide such marital property and debt equitably between the parties
• Assess whether spousal support (also known as maintenance or alimony) is appropriate and, if so, establish the appropriate amount of such support
• If minor children are involved, determine the appropriate child support amount and each party’s contribution to additional child related expenses

The court’s evaluation of these issues is guided by the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA) and Illinois case law. In this article, I’m going to take a deep dive into how the court calculates maintenance.

Key Factors to Determining if Maintenance is Warranted

The IMDMA includes a guideline formula that is used in many cases to determine the appropriate maintenance amount. However, before the court will consider this formula, the first step is to determine whether maintenance should be awarded based on the facts of each individual case.

The court examines 14 factors outlined in Section 504(a) of the IMDMA (750 ILCS 5/504(a)), to help determine if maintenance is appropriate. These factors include:

(1) the income and property of each party, including marital property apportioned and non-marital property assigned to the party seeking maintenance as well as all financial obligations imposed on the parties as a result of the dissolution of marriage;

(2) the needs of each party;

(3) the realistic present and future earning capacity of each party;

(4) any impairment of the present and future earning capacity of the party seeking maintenance due to that party devoting time to domestic duties or having forgone or delayed education, training, employment, or career opportunities due to the marriage;

(5) any impairment of the realistic present or future earning capacity of the party against whom maintenance is sought;

(6) the time necessary to enable the party seeking maintenance to acquire appropriate education, training, and employment, and whether that party is able to support himself or herself through appropriate employment;

(6.1) the effect of any parental responsibility arrangements and its effect on a party’s ability to seek or maintain employment;

(7) the standard of living established during the marriage;

(8) the duration of the marriage;

(9) the age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate, liabilities, and the needs of each of the parties;

(10) all sources of public and private income including, without limitation, disability and retirement income;

(11) the tax consequences to each party;

(12) contributions and services by the party seeking maintenance to the education, training, career or career potential, or license of the other spouse;

(13) any valid agreement of the parties; and

(14) any other factor that the court expressly finds to be just and equitable.”

None of these factors are dispositive—the court considers the facts of each case and will weigh these 14 factors based on that information.

If after analyzing these factors the court determines that maintenance is appropriate, then the IMDMA provides how the court will determine the maintenance amount and the duration it’s paid for.

The amount of maintenance that can be ordered to be paid is broken down into two categories pursuant to the statute: “guideline” and “non-guideline” maintenance.

How to Calculate Guideline Maintenance

Guideline maintenance is applied when the combined gross annual income of the parties does not exceed $500,000 and the paying spouse has no obligations to provide child support, maintenance or both from a prior relationship. In these circumstances, the court will use the guideline formula:

 33.33% of the payor’s net annual income minus 25% of the payee’s net annual income

However, the calculated maintenance, when added back to the payee’s (the party receiving maintenance) net annual income, cannot result in the payee receiving more than 40% of the couple’s combined net income. This caveat is typically called the 40% cap, and it prevents a spouse from receiving more than 40% of the couple’s combined net incomes.

The duration of how long maintenance is paid pursuant to the guideline approach is a percentage of the overall length of marriage (measured from the date of marriage through the date of commencement of the divorce proceedings).

The following chart provides the different lengths of marriage and the correlating duration of maintenance, pursuant to the Statute.

Length of Marriage = Duration of Maintenance

Marriages less than 5 years = 20% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 5 years or more but less than 6 years = 24% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 6 years or more but less than 7 years = 28% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 7 years or more but less than 8 years = 32% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 8 years or more but less than 9 years = 36% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 9 years or more but less than 10 years = 40% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 10 years or more but less than 11 years = 44% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 11 years or more but less than 12 years = 48% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 12 years or more but less than 13 years = 52% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 13 years or more but less than 14 years = 56% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 14 years or more but less than 15 years = 60% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 15 years or more but less than 16 years = 64% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 16 years or more but less than 17 years = 68% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 17 years or more but less than 18 years = 72% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 18 years or more but less than 19 years = 76% of the length of the marriage

Marriages 19 years or more but less than 20 years = 80% of the length of the marriage

Marriages for 20 years or more = Period equal to the length of the marriage or Indefinite Term

Non-guideline maintenance (both amount and duration) may be entered by the court if the facts of the case do not fit the definition of guideline support. In this situation, a court has discretion to set a monthly maintenance amount and duration.

The court will sometimes use the guideline calculation as a basis for determining non-guideline support, along with the 14 factors outlined in Section 504(a) and case law. However, a court is not required to follow the guideline calculation.

Net Income vs. Gross Income

 You may have noticed that the maintenance statute and the formula use the terms “gross” annual income and “net” annual income. These are important terms that drastically impact the input numbers for the guideline formula and the monthly support that’s ultimately paid.

In Section 504(a), gross income is defined as “…all income from all sources…”.

For purposes of applying the guideline formula, the combined gross annual income of the two parties of the divorce cannot exceed $500,000.

For purposes of calculating the monthly maintenance amount to be paid, the guideline formula uses percentages of the payor’s and payee’s net annual incomes.

Net income is defined as follows:

“Gross income minus either the standardized tax amount calculated pursuant to subparagraph (C) of this paragraph (3) or the individualized tax amount calculated pursuant to subparagraph (D) of this paragraph (3), and minus any adjustments pursuant to subparagraph (F) of this paragraph (3). The standardized tax amount shall be used unless the requirements for an individualized tax amount set forth in subparagraph (E) of this paragraph (3) are met. “Net income” includes maintenance not includable in the gross taxable income of the payee for federal income tax purposes under a court order in the pending proceedings or any other proceedings and shall be included in the payee’s net income for purposes of calculating the parent’s child support obligation.” (750 ILCS 5/505(a)(3)(B)

Additional Considerations

In addition to the complexities of what the court considers as net vs. gross income, there are considerations that arise depending on how each spouse earns their money.

For example, is one spouse paid as a W-2 wage earner? Does either spouse receive 1099 forms or K-1s? Is either spouse self-employed? Are there personal expenses that are being paid through a business? What if one spouse is voluntarily unemployed?

All of these questions add layers of complexity to the issue of income and need to be analyzed by an experienced attorney in order to ensure the appropriate income figures are used for the maintenance formula.

Imputation of Income

In situations where a court finds that an individual is unemployed, underemployed or has misrepresented their income, it may choose to “impute” (or assign) income to this person.

The court will determine an income that’s appropriate—based on factors such as that person’s education, work history and current job prospects—to help calculate maintenance, even if that person is not actually earning such income or disclosing such income.

Navigating Your Divorce with Expert Legal Support

Maintenance calculations are one of the most nuanced aspects of a divorce proceeding. While Illinois law provides a framework, every situation is unique, and the numbers can be impacted by many variables. Understanding what the court considers—and how financial details like income type and employment status affect the outcome—is essential to arriving at a fair and sustainable resolution.

Working with an experienced family law attorney can help ensure the proper information is presented and that each factor is thoroughly evaluated. That’s where our Stern Mendez team comes in. We’re committed to helping you move forward with clarity, confidence and a plan that upholds the law while recognizing the realities of life after divorce.

Please reach out today to schedule a free consultation. We can meet at our Evanston office in the Davis Center, or at our offices in Chicago, Lake Forest or Oak Brook.

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