Maintenance
Maintenance and Child Support are the financial obligations of one party to the other for the purposes of providing for the expenses of an ex-spouse or the children. Contact the Nye Law Group, Ltd. to determine if you meet the necessary requirements to be receiving or paying support.
Maintenance
Maintenance is what people may refer to as alimony. In the state of Illinois, maintenance is set by a statutory guideline as determined by our elected officials. It is based on the current earnings and earning ability of both parties and their standard of livings. Not all parties will be eligible for an award of maintenance as each case is unique.
Maintenance is the term now used in replace of alimony. Illinois has a law that went into effect January 1, 2018 that says if there is no prior family situation (no child support or maintenance issues from a prior marriage) and the couple earns less than $500,000, then the amount and duration of a maintenance awarded can be determined by a formula. Deviations from this formula may be permitted, however, it is used as a guideline. The court shall first determine whether a maintenance award is appropriate after considering the following list of factors pursuant to 750 ILCS 5/504 (a) (insert link “A” for the factors). The amount of maintenance is calculated by taking 30% of the payor’s gross annual income minus 20% of the payee’s gross annual income. The amount calculated as maintenance, however, when added to the gross income of the payee, may not result in the payee receiving an amount that is excess of 40% of the combined gross income of the parties. There is also a guideline for the duration of the maintenance the court follows pursuant to 750 ILCS 5/504 (B) (insert link “B” for duration chart) in determining the duration of the maintenance. Maintenance not established on or before January 1, 2019, will no longer be tax deductible. If you feel that you need financial support from your spouse, or your spouse claims they need financial support, please contact the Nye Law Group to discuss your particular case.
Child Support
CHANGES TO CHILD SUPPORT DUE TO NEW ILLINOIS LAW
Are you aware that Illinois has a new way of calculating child support payments that went into effect July 1, 2017? Now may be a good time to have Nye Law Group review your child support order to see if modifications are in order. Although, the new law is not a basis on its own for solely modifying a child support order, based on your current circumstances, a modification may be in order.
Historically, child support was based solely on a guideline percentage and the net income of the non-custodial parent. This resulted in the same guideline support regardless of the division of parenting time, the respective incomes of the parties, and other factors. Typically, 20% of the non-custodial parent’s income was paid for child support, or more depending on the number of children.
The recent changes to the law were based on the belief that both parties have a duty to support the children, and the children should receive the same amount of support they would otherwise enjoy if both parties resided in the same household. Effective July 1, 2017 with the passage of the income shares legislation (Pub. Act 100-15), Illinois is now using an income-share model approach which uses a mathematical formula to consider a.) the amount parenting time of each parent and b.) both parties’ incomes.
The amount of support is based off both parent’s gross incomes which is then adjusted based on certain credits. After adjustment of the gross income, the parent’s respective net incomes are calculated using a tax rate, and then the respective net incomes are combined. The total support owed by both parents is then based on Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services tables. The resulting support amount is then allocated between the parents based on ratios of their combined net income, with certain adjustments based on allocation of time spent with the children.
If a parent has fewer over nights than the other parent but less than 146 overnights overall, the guideline will apply and the percentage of support attributable to that parent will be paid to the other. If, however, the parent with fewer overnights has more than 146 overnights (40%), then the table sum is multiplied by 1.5 and the amounts of support are distributed by percentage of support attributed to that parent based on percentage of both parents’ total earnings and the number of overnights each has.