If you are getting or have already gotten divorced in Illinois, chances are that you are receiving or paying spousal maintenance payments. Also known as alimony or spousal support, spousal maintenance is less common than it used to be but is still common enough that it is important to be aware of the laws that regulate this area of family law. One of the questions that spouses frequently have after divorce, whether they are making or receiving alimony, is whether certain actions or events could cause alimony to end. Like most legal issues, the answer in a specific case is, “It depends.” …

On the whole, couples today are considering the potentially negative impacts of divorce more carefully than couples of the past, especially when there are children involved. This means fewer marriages end in divorce, and, when they do, couples are more conscious about the way they choose to separate. Many people are children of divorced parents themselves and have experienced the pain of high-conflict divorce first-hand. Others have simply read the research and know that divorce does not have to be a catastrophic experience when adults can work cooperatively together. Whatever the …