In re Marriage of Rogers

In In re Marriage of Rogers (2004) 213 Ill.2d 129 289 Ill. Dec. 610, 820 N.E.2d 386, the father received gifts and loans from his family which, so the mother claimed, amounted to " 'a steady source of dependable annual income ... he has received each year over the course of his adult life.' He has never had to repay any portion of those sums, nor has he been required to pay tax on them." (Id., 213 Ill.2d at p. 134.) Rogers held that these gifts fell within the definition of income contained in the Illinois statute, which defined net income as " 'the total of all income from all sources' " minus specific deductions. (Id. at p. 133, quoting 750 Ill. Comp. Stat. 5/505(a)(3).) "That the gifts may not have been subject to taxation by the federal government is of no consequence. They represented a valuable benefit to the father that enhanced his wealth and facilitated his ability to support the minor child." (In re Marriage of Rogers, supra, at p. 137.) The court also rejected cases holding that a gift could not be income merely because there was no guarantee that the parent would continue to receive such gifts in the future. "Few, if any, sources of income are certain to continue unchanged year in and year out. People can lose their jobs, interest rates can fall, business conditions can wipe out profits and dividends. Accordingly, the relevant focus under the Illinois statute is the parent's economic situation at the time the child support calculations are made by the court." (Id. at p. 138.) "If the payments should stop earlier than anticipated by the court, the parent obligated to provide support based on those payments may seek modification of the support order ... ." (Id. at p. 139.)