When Does Maintenance End?

Maintenance ends pursuant to statutory events or by agreement of the parties. Under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act, it states that the obligation to pay future maintenance is terminated upon the death of either party or the remarriage of the party receiving maintenance, or if the party receiving maintenance cohabits with another person on a resident continuing conjugal basis.

These factors are very important. Let’s run through them. Obviously, if the party receiving the maintenance passes away, or if the party paying the maintenance passes away, that’s going to be the end of the maintenance. Secondly, if the party receiving the maintenance remarries, then there is no longer a statutory obligation to pay maintenance. Lastly – and this is probably the most difficult one – if the receiver is living with someone on a resident continuing conjugal basis, which is sometimes tough to prove, then that party is no longer entitled to maintenance under the statute.

What you have in many cases is people who are together but they might maintain separate residences, or two residences so that the recipient can continue to receive maintenance. This could be a hotly contested issue when someone feels that the two houses or two locations are simply a way to avoid a statutory termination of maintenance.

Consult with an experienced divorce or family law attorney to determine your rights under maintenance, or to review your particular judgment for dissolution of marriage which contains the maintenance provision that you set out and agreed to, that became part of your order.