Senate Bill 3231 was approved this month and will take effect January 1, 2015. It amends the current divorce law in Illinois on spousal support, the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, 750 ILCS 5/504. This means changes are coming regarding maintenance, which is also known as spousal support (also referred to as alimony by the Internal Revenue Service).
Unlike child support, in a divorce proceeding, the judge has discretion to determine whether or not to order maintenance. In order to decide whether maintenance is appropriate, the court will weigh several factors, such as the duration of the marriage, the standard of living established during the marriage, and the income and needs of each party. The court will also look at whether one spouse forwent higher education or career opportunities to stay home, and the amount of time it will take that spouse to achieve sufficient education or job training to become financially self-sufficient.
If the court decides to order maintenance, it can do so either in accordance with guidelines or not in accordance with guidelines. The court must use specific guidelines if the combined gross income of the parties is less than $250,000 and there is no multiple family situation. Interestingly, the definition of “multiple family situation” is nowhere to be found in the new statute. Presumably, it refers to a situation where a spouse has support obligations in more than one case.