The new guidelines for calculating maintenance do not apply to proceedings to modify maintenance that were ordered before the 2015 amendment. The Petition for dissolution had been filed in 2005. Husband had been ordered in 2007 to pay maintenance of $1300 per month.
The Trial Court applied the new guidelines. Wife received permanent maintenance of $1900 per month. Husband appealed.
The Appellate Court held that the new guidelines do not apply. The maintenance in this case had been ordered before the amendment. A Judgment had been entered.
This appeal involved an amendment to the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA). It changes the way maintenance is calculated.
Prior to 2015, the relevant statute provided a list of factors courts to consider in determining the propriety, amount, and duration of maintenance.
Under the version of the statute now in effect, however, the statutory factors are used to determine the propriety of maintenance. The amount and duration of maintenance are calculated using guideline formulas. Unless the court finds that there is a reason to depart from the guidelines.
In re Marriage of Harms, 2018 IL App (5th) 160472
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