Last Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court published an opinion in a case called Hulsh v. Hulsh in which it declined to recognize a cause of action for interference with the parent-child relationship. The issue in the case started when the mother of two minor children successfully regained custody of her children in an action filed in federal district court in Illinois against the children’s father. The mother then filed a state court action in Cook County against her former mother-in-law and brother-in-law, alleging tortious interference with her custodial rights and aiding and abetting tortious interference with her custodial rights, seeking to recover the expenses that she incurred in the federal district court action to regain custody of her children.
The Cook County circuit court dismissed those claims for failure to state a claim, and the appellate court affirmed the dismissal pointing out that Illinois courts have declined to recognize a cause of action for tortious interference with a parent’s custodial rights, regardless of the damages claimed.
The defendants appealed to the Supreme Court and the court affirmed and explicitly stated that it preferred to defer the question of whether to recognize such a cause of action to the legislative branch.
You can find a copy of the opinion in the Illinois Supreme Court website. Go here and scroll down or search by date.
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