The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act provides a formula for calculating the amount and duration of spousal maintenance if it is awarded. The amount is determined by taking 33 ⅓% of the paying spouse’s net income and subtracting from it 25% of the receiving spouse’s net income. However, if this calculated amount, when added to the receiving spouse’s net income, results in the receiving spouse having more than 40% of the parties’ combined net income, the maintenance amount will be reduced accordingly.
For example, if Spouse B has a net income of $100,000 and Spouse A has a net income of $40,000, Spouse B would be the paying spouse, and Spouse A would be the receiving spouse. Calculating 33 ⅓% of Spouse B’s net income gives $33,333.33, and 25% of Spouse A’s net income is $10,000. The maintenance amount would be $23,333.33 ($33,333.33 minus $10,000). However, their combined net income is $140,000, and 40% of that is $56,000. If Spouse A received the full $23,333.33 in maintenance, they would have $63,333.33, which exceeds the 40% maximum. Therefore, Spouse A’s maintenance would be reduced so they do not receive more than 40% of the combined net income. In this case, Spouse A’s maximum allowable income is $56,000, and since they earn $40,000, the maintenance would be reduced to $16,000.
The duration of spousal maintenance payments is determined by a table that multiplies the length of the marriage by a factor that increases as the marriage duration increases. Essentially, the longer the marriage, the closer the duration of the maintenance payments will be to equalling the length of the marriage. For marriages lasting 20 years or more, maintenance payments may continue for a duration equal to the length of the marriage or indefinitely.