Docket No. 97833-Agenda 33-September 2004.

In re MARRIAGE OF JOAN ROGERS, Appellee, and MARK ROGERS, Appellant.

Opinion filed November 18, 2004.

JUSTICE RARICK delivered the opinion of the court:

The issue in this case is whether cash gifts and "loans" receivedby a father from his family qualify as income under section 505 of theIllinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (the Act) (750ILCS 5/505 (West 2002)) for purposes of calculating the father'sstatutory child support obligations. The circuit court held that they do.It therefore took those gifts and "loans" into account when it grantedthe mother's request for modification of the court's judgmentregarding child support. The appellate court affirmed. 345 Ill. App. 3d77. We granted the father's petition for leave to appeal. 177 Ill. 2d R.315. For the reasons that follow, we now affirm.

Mark Rogers, the father, married Joan Rogers, the mother, onAugust 11, 1984. The couple had one child, named Dylan, bornOctober 2, 1985. Shortly after Dylan's third birthday, the motherpetitioned to have the marriage dissolved. Judgment grantingdissolution was eventually entered February 21, 1991. The judgmentincorporated a marital settlement agreement under which Dylan wasto reside with his mother, and the father was obligated to pay $250per month in child support.

According to the record before us, nothing of consequenceoccurred in the case for the next 5