Will I Owe Alimony After Our Divorce?

 Posted on November 11, 2026 in Spousal Support

Alimony (called maintenance in Illinois) isn't ordered in every divorce. Many divorces end without maintenance being ordered. Whether you'll owe it depends on whether the court finds maintenance is appropriate in the first place, and then on your incomes and how long you were married.

If you earn more than your spouse and you're divorcing in 2026, a DuPage County, IL alimony attorney can help you understand what you could be ordered to pay and for how long.

How Does an Illinois Court Decide if You'll Owe Alimony?

The court first decides whether maintenance is appropriate at all. Under 750 ILCS 5/504(a), the judge looks at a list of factors, including:

• Each spouse's income and property, including non-marital property
• Each spouse's needs and ability to earn in the future
• Whether one spouse gave up career opportunities during the marriage
• The standard of living during the marriage
• The length of the marriage
• The age and health of each spouse

Longer marriages that involve a large difference in what spouses earn can make maintenance orders more likely. The purpose of maintenance is to help both spouses maintain an appropriate standard of living. A spouse who can adequately support themselves often doesn't receive spousal maintenance.

Spouses can also agree to waive maintenance in a settlement or a prenuptial agreement.

How Much Alimony Will You Owe in Illinois?

If the court orders maintenance, it uses a guideline formula unless the spouses' combined gross income is $500,000 or more a year or the paying spouse already has a support duty from a prior relationship. The formula takes 33.33 percent of the paying spouse's monthly net income and subtracts 25 percent of the other spouse's net income to determine the monthly maintenance payment.

There are limits to guideline payments. Under the guideline formula, the maintenance plus the receiving spouse's own net income can't be more than 40 percent of the couple's combined net income. A judge can set a different amount if the guidelines would be inappropriate, but must explain why in the judgment. Courts can also order maintenance that is reviewable, fixed-term, or indefinite, depending on the case.

Business owners, doctors, and other professionals often have a combined income above $500,000. In these cases, the guidelines don't apply. The court reviews the couple's situations and marriage length to set an amount.

How Long Will You Have to Pay Alimony in Illinois?

If you do have to pay alimony, the duration is based on the length of the marriage. How long the marriage lasted is multiplied by a percentage that corresponds to the length of the marriage. For a marriage under five years, the percentage is 0.20. It rises by 0.04 for each additional year, up to 0.80 for a marriage of 19 to 20 years.

For marriages of 20 years or more, the court can order maintenance for a period equal to the length of the marriage or for an indefinite term. The court can also set a date to review the award.

When Can Alimony End or Change in Illinois?

Unless the parties have a written agreement providing otherwise, maintenance ends automatically if either spouse dies or the receiving spouse remarries (750 ILCS 5/510(c)). It can also end if the receiving spouse lives with a new partner on a continuing, marriage-like basis.

Either spouse can ask the court to change the amount if there's a substantial change in circumstances, such as a job loss or a large change in income. Unless your judgment says otherwise, a change usually applies only to payments due after the other spouse receives notice of the request.

Maintenance ordered after 2018 is also not tax-deductible for the paying spouse.

Call a Wheaton, IL Spousal Support Attorney Today

A maintenance order can shape your finances for years after your divorce. Our DuPage County, IL alimony lawyers can review what factors in your situation the court is likely to consider and how to present your case.

Roberts PC works hard to settle cases out of court and keep costs down, but we're prepared to go to trial when an agreement isn't possible. We regularly handle larger cases for business owners, professionals, doctors, lawyers, and judges. Every client also gets Attorney Chuck Roberts' personal cell phone number and email address.

Call Roberts PC at 630-668-4211 to schedule your free consultation.