Alimony (spousal support) in Illinois is designed to help a lower-earning spouse maintain a reasonable standard of living after divorce. This comprehensive guide covers the types of alimony available in Illinois, how courts calculate amounts, duration guidelines, modification rules, and the impact of remarriage, cohabitation, and retirement on support obligations. Understanding Illinois’s alimony laws helps both paying and receiving spouses plan their financial futures.
Verified against Illinois family law statutes as of May 2026.
In This Illinois Alimony Guide:
Types of Alimony in Illinois
Illinois courts may award the following types of alimony:
- Temporary maintenance (during divorce proceedings)
- Fixed-term maintenance (set duration
- barred after expiration)
- Rehabilitative maintenance (supports education/training to re-enter workforce)
- Reviewable maintenance (set term with court review date
- may be extended
- converted to fixed-term
- made indefinite
- or terminated at review)
- Permanent/Indefinite maintenance (no end date
- typically for long marriages). Note: Illinois uses the term “maintenance” rather than “alimony.”
How Illinois Calculates Alimony
Illinois uses a guideline formula for calculating alimony: Guideline formula (750 ILCS 5/504(b-1)): 33.33% of payor’s net income minus 25% of recipient’s net income. The recipient’s total income including maintenance cannot exceed 40% of the combined net income of both spouses. The guideline formula applies only when the couple’s combined gross income is under 500000 per year and neither party has a support obligation from a prior relationship. Above that threshold, courts use judicial discretion considering the statutory factors. Duration multipliers by length of marriage: 0-5 years = maintenance for 20% of marriage duration; over 5 up to 10 years = 40%; over 10 up to 15 years = 60%; over 15 up to 20 years = 80%; 20+ years = equal to the length of the marriage or indefinite term, at court’s discretion. Courts may deviate from the guideline formula after considering all 14 statutory factors.
Illinois courts consider these factors when determining alimony:
- Under 750 ILCS 5/504(a)
- courts consider 14 factors: (1) 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 dissolution; (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 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; (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 needs of each party; (10) All sources of public and private income
- including without limitation disability and retirement income; (11) The tax consequences of the property division upon the respective economic circumstances of the parties; (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; (14) Any other factor that the court expressly finds to be just and equitable.
Income disparity: YES — courts must find that the party seeking maintenance lacks sufficient property (including marital property apportioned) to provide for their reasonable needs, and is unable to support themselves through appropriate employment, or is the custodian of a child whose condition or circumstances make it appropriate for that parent not to seek employment.
Vocational evaluation: YES — Illinois courts may order vocational evaluations to assess a spouse’s earning capacity. Vocational experts provide impartial assessments of a spouse’s vocational aptitude, qualifications, employability, and capability to work. These evaluations inform both the decision to award maintenance and the amount/duration. The 2025 amendment also requires courts to conduct formal evidentiary hearings before imputing income and to consider local job market conditions, available employers, and prevailing wages.
Illinois Alimony Duration Guidelines
Yes. Illinois has statutory duration multipliers based on length of marriage under 750 ILCS 5/504(b-1)(1)(B): 0-5 years = 20% of marriage length; over 5 to 10 years = 40%; over 10 to 15 years = 60%; over 15 to 20 years = 80%; 20+ years = equal to marriage length or indefinite term.
| Marriage Length | Typical Alimony Duration |
|---|---|
| Short-term (under 5 years or less — receives shortest maintenance duration at 20% of the marriage length) | Rehabilitative or bridge-the-gap; limited duration |
| Moderate-term | Durational alimony; set period based on marriage length |
| Long-term (20 years or more — qualifies for maintenance equal to the length of the marriage or an indefinite term, at the court’s discretion+) | May qualify for permanent or indefinite alimony |
Permanent alimony: YES — for marriages of 20 or more years, the court in its discretion shall order maintenance for a period equal to the length of the marriage or for an indefinite term. Indefinite maintenance may also be ordered in other circumstances where the court finds it appropriate.
Modifying & Terminating Illinois Alimony
Modification: YES — under 750 ILCS 5/510, maintenance may be modified or terminated upon a showing of a substantial change in circumstances. The change must be made in good faith. Examples include increased or decreased income, loss of employment, new employment, retirement, and changes in health. The court considers the same 14 factors used in the original determination. Contemplation or foreseeability of future events is not a bar to finding a substantial change in circumstances, unless the future event was expressly specified in the court order or incorporated agreement. As of 2025, incarceration of the payor no longer constitutes grounds for automatic reduction or suspension — maintenance continues to accrue as arrears during incarceration.
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Cohabitation: Maintenance terminates if the recipient spouse cohabits with another person on a resident, continuing, conjugal basis. The paying spouse must file a motion to terminate and prove the cohabitation is conjugal (marriage-like). Courts evaluate whether there is a full-time living arrangement, the financial impact of the relationship, and the extent to which the relationship is marriage-like versus a house-sharing arrangement.
Remarriage: Remarriage of the recipient spouse automatically terminates the obligation to pay future maintenance under 750 ILCS 5/510(c). The recipient must notify the paying spouse 30 days prior to remarriage. The payor remains liable for any maintenance amounts already accrued as of the date of remarriage. Death of either party also terminates the maintenance obligation.
Retirement: The payor’s good-faith retirement may constitute a substantial change in circumstances warranting modification or termination of maintenance. Courts evaluate: the payor’s age, health, motives for retirement, whether retirement was voluntary or involuntary, and the payor’s ability to continue paying maintenance from retirement income and assets. Retirement alone does not automatically terminate maintenance — if the payor has sufficient assets to continue meeting the obligation, a reduction in income from retirement may not be sufficient. The statute also includes disability and retirement income as a factor in the original maintenance determination.
Tax Implications of Illinois Alimony
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (2017), for divorce agreements executed after December 31, 2018, alimony payments are not deductible by the paying spouse and not taxable income for the receiving spouse at the federal level. This applies to all Illinois divorces finalized after that date.
For divorces finalized before 2019, the old rules still apply unless the agreement is modified to adopt the new tax treatment.
Impact of Misconduct on Illinois Alimony
Adultery: No direct impact. 750 ILCS 5/504(a) explicitly states that maintenance is awarded “without regard to marital misconduct.” Adultery cannot be used as a factor to determine whether maintenance is awarded or in what amount. However, if a spouse dissipated marital assets to further an extramarital affair (lavish gifts, vacations, rent for a paramour), the court may consider that dissipation in property division, which could indirectly affect the overall financial outcome.
Other marital misconduct: No impact on maintenance. Illinois is a pure no-fault divorce state, and 750 ILCS 5/504(a) provides that maintenance is determined “without regard to marital misconduct.” This applies to all forms of misconduct, not just adultery. The only exception is financial misconduct (dissipation of marital assets), which affects property division rather than maintenance directly.
Additional Illinois rules: (1) Illinois uses the term “maintenance” not “alimony” in all statutes and court proceedings. (2) The guideline formula (33.33% of payor’s net minus 25% of recipient’s net) uses NET income, changed from gross income in the 2019 reform. (3) Combined gross income cap of 500000 for guideline formula applicability — above that threshold, courts exercise full discretion. (4) The 40% cap ensures the recipient’s total income including maintenance does not exceed 40% of the combined net income. (5) 2025 amendment effective January 1, 2025: maintenance continues to accrue as a legal debt during the payor’s incarceration; unpaid amounts accumulate as arrears that the recipient has a legal right to collect after release. (6) 2025 amendment: courts must conduct a formal evidentiary hearing before imputing income, must issue specific written findings of fact, and must consider local job market conditions, available employers, and prevailing wages. (7) Fixed-term maintenance is barred after expiration — meaning the recipient cannot seek an extension after the fixed term ends. Reviewable maintenance, by contrast, allows the court to extend, convert, or terminate at the review date. (8) Courts must consider whether the party seeking maintenance contributed to the other spouse’s education, training, career potential, or professional license.
Official Sources & Resources
- Cornell LII — Alimony: law.cornell.edu
- NCSL Spousal Support: ncsl.org
- Illinois Alimony Statute: 750 ILCS 5/504 (Maintenance — award, amount, duration, factors); 750 ILCS 5/510 (Modification and Termination of Maintenance); Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA)
Last verified May 2026. Contact us if you notice outdated information.