Il - Divorce Settlement Reality Check?

Location: IL. I (52F) have been with my husband (56 M) for 6 years, married 2. We were both divorced when we met. He has 2 children (now adults) and his ex is VERY contentious. She and I got along well in the beginning, but things changed when she realized I was sticking around.

She hasn't held a job since the divorce (approximately 9 years ago). Once child support ended, her living situation changed drastically. She is now living in a relatively unsafe area but from our knowledge has taken no steps to find employment or otherwise change her situation.

Husband recently retired. Yes it's early, but he had a union job with a pension and fully qualified for retirement. He filed a petition to terminate maintenance (approximately 5 years early) due to change in circumstance. She is receiving MORE money each month from the pension than she was receiving in maintenance. We thought this would be a positive thing.

Nope. She (and her attorney) not only are fighting the motion to terminate maintenance - they have countered with a motion for PERMANENT maintenance along with a life insurance policy to secure her future when husband passes away. The motion is supported with medical records stating she is disabled, a claim that his retirement should be considered temporary given his age (it's not - he's done working), and requesting the court to consider that husband is remarried and therefore also has my income to rely on.

He and I put both of his kids through college. She contributed zero. We bought them both cars. We've worked HARD, saved and lived a very modest lifestyle to be able to afford his retirement at this age. I intend to work at least another decade, but that should be irrelevant to this discussion? We bought a house together last year, which the motion also references as evidence why the maintenance should continue indefinitely (remember she moved to an unsafe area).

Husband's attorney has been telling us not to worry, this won't go anywhere. However ... I'm very worried. It seems like with every court hearing, the situation looks more dire. At this point I'm concerned his attorney is not being forthcoming. Can anyone with experience in IL provide a second opinion here?

Can she (and her attorney) bring me and my income into this equation? Can husband literally be forced to go back to work because she wants maintenance AND pension funds? Is there any possibility of coming to some sort of reasonable middle ground here? His attorney's stance of "don't worry" is not much comfort given that things seem to be escalating rather than resolving. Help?