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IN RE MARRIAGE OF DODDS
583 N.E.2d 608 (1991)
Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.
December 4, 1991.
Our decision is fortified by section 706.1 of the Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 40, par. 706.1), which provides for court-ordered withholding of specified amounts of income by a third party in order to secure payment of child support. Whereas section 505 provides that the court shall consider all income from all sources, section 706.1 defines income from the standpoint of periodic payments. In keeping with its intended purpose, section 706.1 provides in part that "`[i]ncome' means any form of periodic payment to an individual, regardless of source, including, but not limited to: wages, salary, commission, compensation as an independent contractor, workers' compensation." (Emphasis added.) (Ill. Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 40, par. 706.1(A)(4).) The fact that a worker's compensation award is contained within the narrower definition of income contained in section 706.1 supports the proposition that a lump-sum worker's compensation award is contained within the broad definition of income set forth in section 505. It is illogical to conclude that the legislature intended lump-sum worker's compensation awards to be excluded from section 505's broad definition of income because of the periodic payment language contained within section 706.1. To reach this unreasonable result, one must conclude that the legislature intended to require a parent who elects to receive a worker's compensation award in the form of periodic payments to include the award as income for purposes of meeting his child support obligations, while, at the same time, permitting another parent, merely because he elects a lump-sum worker's compensation award, to escape the duty of applying the award to his child support obligations. Statutes are to be construed in such a way that they have a reasonable meaning and are accorded an interpretation that will not lead to absurd consequences. Sinnock v. Board of Fire & Police Commissioners (1985), 131 Ill.App.3d 854, 857, 87 Ill.Dec. 31, 476 N.E.2d 492. In arriving at the child support award, the trial judge found that the lumpsum settlement constituted income pursuant to its definition in section 706.1 of the Marriage Act. To arrive at this result, the court concluded that the lump-sum award in a real sense was merely a transformation of the periodic payment award to which respondent was entitled. We have determined that the lump-sum award constituted income as defined in section 505(a)(3) of the Marriage Act. The language of section 706.1 is intended to secure the payment of child support through third parties who are normally obligated to pay income to the supporting parent in the form of periodic payments. Because respondent received the full lump-sum settlement amount from his third-party employer, section 706.1 was an inappropriate vehicle for the purpose of ordering the payment of child support. Nevertheless, having determined that the lump-sum award constituted income, the trial court proceeded to determine the amount of child support pursuant to the standards set forth in section 505(a)(2) of the Marriage Act.
Respondent raises only the issue of whether his lump-sum worker's compensation award constituted income for the purpose of determining his obligation to pay child support under the Marriage Act. Respondent does not raise, and therefore has waived, the issue of whether the trial court properly determined the specific amount of child support respondent was ordered to pay.The judgment of the circuit court of Winnebago County is affirmed. Affirmed. REINHARD, P.J., and NICKELS, J., concur.
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