IN RE MARRIAGE OF DODDS
583 N.E.2d 608 (1991)
222 Ill. App.3d 99
164 Ill.Dec. 692
In re MARRIAGE OF Nancy DODDS, Petitioner-Appellee, and
Terry Dodds, Respondent-Appellant.
No. 2-90-1372.
Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.
December 4, 1991.
Daniel A. Cwynar, Rockton, for Terry Dodds.
Norman R. Wheeler, Vella, Sparkman & Altamore, P.C., Rockford, for Nancy E. Dodds.
Justice BOWMAN delivered the opinion of the court:
Respondent, Terry Dodds, appeals from an order of the circuit court of Winnebago County modifying a child support order. Respondent contends that the trial court erred in determining that the lump-sum settlement of respondent's worker's compensation claim, for an injury which occurred after the dissolution of marriage, was income and, thus, was available to be apportioned for child support.
Respondent and petitioner, Nancy Dodds, were married and had three children. Following a divorce, they were remarried in 1984. In April 1985, Nancy filed a petition for dissolution of the marriage, and on July 2, 1985, a judgment of dissolution was entered. As part of the judgment, Terry was ordered to pay $210 per week in child support. Terry has since remarried, and he has three stepchildren. In April 1986, the original child support order was modified, and the payments were reduced to $150 per week.
During 1987, Terry suffered a work-related back injury, and he filed a worker's compensation claim. The claim was settled in January 1989, for a lump-sum payment of $135,000. After fees and costs were deducted, Terry's net award was $108,544.18. The back injury apparently disabled Terry, and he became eligible for social security disability income. As such, he receives $900 per month; his current wife receives $100; his stepchildren receive $302; and his own children receive $248.
In March 1990, Terry filed a petition to modify child support; he asked the court to reduce his payments by the amount his children were receiving from social security. Nancy filed her own petition to modify; she asked the court to allocate part of Terry's lump-sum worker's compensation settlement as child support.
In determining whether the worker's compensation settlement was income, the trial court noted that section 706.1(A)(4) of the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (the Marriage Act) (Ill.Rev. Stat.1989, ch. 40, par. 706.1(A)(4)) defines "income" as "any form of periodic payment to an individual, regardless of source, including, but not limited to: wages, salary, * * * [and] workers' compensation." The court concluded that Terry could have taken his settlement in periodic payments but had "transformed his right to receive periodic payments into a lump sum present day cash value." The trial court ordered Terry to pay 21% of the settlement, or $23,439, to his children. Terry appeals from that part of the order.
Terry concedes that a percentage of his income must go to child support; his only argument on appeal is that his worker's compensation settlement is not "income." He argues that, if the legislature had intended that all worker's compensation payments were to fall within the definition of "income" set out in section 706.1(A)(4) of the Marriage Act, then the legislature would not have specified "periodic" payments. He argues that his payment was "a one time thing" and not "periodic." He also urges that the lump-sum settlement would not fall within the definitions of "income" found in the Principal and Income Act (Ill.Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 30, par. 504) and the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act (Senior Citizens Act) (Ill. Rev.Stat.1989, ch. 67½, par. 403.07). He further notes that, under section 104(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code, gross income
specifically excludes "amounts received under workmen's compensation acts as compensation for personal injuries or sickness" (26 U.S.C.A. § 104(a)(1) (West 1988)).