Who gets maintenance?

The spouse who gets maintenance is the spouse who is unable to support themselves. This could be either after the dissolution proceedings or during, as it would be called “temporary maintenance.” If a spouse is not able to support themselves through their own income or through assets at their disposal, a court may order that the spouse, the “moneyed spouse” is what we call it, has to pay the other spouse maintenance.

It isn’t automatic. The court will determine a variety of factors that are set out in the statute. For example, the court will consider the income and assets available to both parties; what the needs are of each party; if there’s any impairment to the present and future earning capacity of the party who’s seeking maintenance; the time necessary to enable the party seeking maintenance to acquire certain education or training; the standard of living that’s established during the marriage; the length of the marriage, which in our statute we call the “duration of the marriage”; the age, health, and occupation of the party who is seeking maintenance. Another example of a factor is the contributions by the party seeking maintenance to the education or training of the other party.

Candace Meyers is a family lawyer at Boyle Feinberg, P.C. in Illinois. To learn more about the firm, visit www.bffamlaw.com. Visit their firm profile here.