A Short Introduction to the Illinois Alimony Calculator
What is an Illinois alimony calculator?
An Illinois alimony calculator is a tool that helps you to estimate the amount of alimony you will need to pay. It requires the inputting of several variables related to your finances and your marriage.
The problem with alimony calculators is that they rely on strict state guidelines to establish a formula for alimony, and states like Illinois simply don’t have such strict guidelines. Yet even though there isn’t actually an accurate alimony calculator for Illinois, a little research into the state’s alimony’s laws can simulate their effect.
How does an Illinois alimony calculator work?
If judges don’t have to stick by strict guidelines in stipulating alimony amounts, the good news is that most attorneys choose to stick by a general formula in crafting their alimony estimates. Because of this, it is very simple to use an Illinois alimony calculator to predict the amount requested.
An alimony calculator in Illinois for this purpose will utilize the following formula:
1. Decide the couple’s joint living expenses during the marriage. If they’ve been separated for a long period of time, find statements from when they were last living together. This is the joint standard of living.
2. If there are children in the marriage, deduct the cost of supporting the children to get the joint standard of living.
3. Now split that joint standard of living into two equal halves to get the individual standard of living.
4. Estimate the less wealthy spouse’s annual income, both from employment and from income on property allotted in the divorce settlement. If they make less than the amount needed to maintain their individual standard of living, then their annual alimony check should make up for the difference.
To seek the formula in action, assume that a spouse earns $30,000 a year and during their marriage lives with a joint standard of living of $80,000. The individual standard of living will then be $40,000. The other spouse, assuming that they have the means to do so, will pay $10,000 in annual alimony payments or $833.33 a month.
What factors should an alimony calculator for Illinois consider?
Once we estimate the alimony that will be asked for, we need to consider if the judge is likely to honor that petition, or change the allotted alimony amount. They may even decide that no alimony is needed at all.
The Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act stipulates the exact factors that a judge should consider when crafting an alimony agreement. They include:
1. the duration of the marriage, as only marriages of at least seven years usually warrant alimony;
2. the income of each party, including property awarded in a marriage settlement;
3. the needs of each party;
4. the age and sex of each party;
5. the standard of living of each party;
6. the tax consequences of the alimony award;
7. whether one party contributed significantly to the employability of the other spouse.
Read the full Marriage Act here: