Alimony, now called maintenance, is also subject to many misconceptions and starts many disputes. If one person spouse makes substantially more money than the other it would be really unfair for one person to all of a sudden be left with a much lower standard of living once the other person leaves or if the marriage has become unbearable and the low income person can no longer bear to be married.

Therefore, courts can award maintenance to even things up a bit. Again, as you might have guessed, this is one of those areas where the courts have great discretion. There is no absolute formula or percentage for awarding maintenance. The court must look at the income and property of each person, the earning potential of each person, each person's needs, the standard of living established during the marriage, how long the marriage lasted, the age and health of each person and various contributions made by each person during the marriage. It's important to note that the court may award temporary maintenance during the time a case is pending in court.

Broadly speaking, unless the parties agree otherwise, in writing, maintenance is taxable to the person who gets it and deductible by the person who pays it. Also, unless the parties agree otherwise, maintenance will stop whenever either person dies or the person getting maintenance remarries or starts conjugally cohabiting on an ongoing basis – living as man and wife but not being married.

Courts in Illinois have the power to award maintenance for either fixed or indefinite periods of time or on a permanent basis. Generally speaking, awards of maintenance on a permanent basis are relatively rare these days. Much more common are awards of what we call "rehabilitative maintenance." The basic idea behind that kind of maintenance is that the maintenance should be awarded for a period of time necessary to help the person getting the maintenance on his or her feet. In fact, for a number of years thee was a general trend toward getting people to work if they are capable of doing so, however, thre has been a recent resurgence in long term alimony.

In some cases, maintenance can be awarded for a set period of time. In other cases the maintenance award is made modifiable, or reviewable, to see if the person getting the maintenance continues to need it. You need to have an attorney look at your specific situation to let you know what kind of maintenance is best for you situation or what kind is likely to be awarded by a court.

Another important thing to keep in mind: the law says that maintenance can be awarded "without regard to marital misconduct" and it can be non-modifiable if the judge orders it or the parties agree. You can even agree to make it continue after the recipient remarries.