VIERA HULSH, Appellant, v. MAYA HULSH et al., Appellees.
(Docket No. 130931)
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
May 22, 2025
2025 IL 130931
JUSTICE O’BRIEN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Chief Justice Theis and Justices Neville, Overstreet, Holder White, Cunningham, and Rochford concurred in the judgment and opinion.
OPINION
¶ 1 Appellant, 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 under the Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Hague Convention) and its implementing legislation, the International Child Abduction Remedies Act (ICARA) (
¶ 2 The issue before us is whether this court should recognize such a claim despite our prior holdings where we have consistently declined to judicially create a cause of action for tortious interference with the parent-child relationship. Today, we reiterate our position that Illinois does not presently recognize the tort of interference with the parent-child relationship, regardless of the damages claimed, and continue to defer the question of whether to recognize such a cause of action to our legislative branch. Accordingly, we affirm both lower courts and the dismissal of the tortious interference claims.
¶ 3 BACKGROUND
¶ 4 The following facts were alleged in the verified complaint filed in the circuit court. As the claims before us were dismissed for failure to state a claim, we accept the allegations as true for the purposes of this appeal. See Rice v. Marathon Petroleum Corp., 2024 IL 129628, ¶ 22 (when faced with a motion to dismiss a complaint as legally insufficient, all well-pleaded facts in the complaint are taken as true). Jeremy Hulsh, a citizen of the United States and Israel, and appellant, Viera Hulsh, a citizen of Slovakia and Israel, divorced in 2019. During the marriage, two children were born, in Israel. Both children hold American, Israeli, and Slovakian passports. In the divorce proceedings in Slovakia, Viera was granted primary custody of the two children, who resided with her in Slovakia. Jeremy was granted visitation rights. On or about October 24, 2019, Jeremy removed the children from Slovakia without Viera’s permission, via a car to Hungary, a private jet to London, a commercial flight to Toronto, and a car to Chicago, Illinois.
¶ 5 On November 5, 2019, Viera filed a petition in federal district court in Chicago against Jeremy, seeking the return of the children pursuant to the Hague Convention
¶ 6 After ordering the return of the children, the district court granted Viera leave to submit a petition for statutory fees and costs under section 9007 of ICARA (
¶ 7 While the fee petition was pending before the federal district court, on February 22, 2021, Viera filed a verified complaint for damages and declaratory relief in the circuit court of Cook County against appellees, Maya Hulsh and Oren Hulsh, the children’s paternal grandmother and uncle, respectively. The complaint alleges that Jeremy will likely claim financial inability to pay any federal district court fee and expense award and states three claims against appellees: (1) tortious interference with custodial rights, (2) aiding and abetting tortious interference with custodial rights, and (3) intentional infliction of emotional distress. Viera alleged that Maya and Oren knowingly interfered with Viera’s custodial rights when they assisted
¶ 8 Maya and Oren each filed motions to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim pursuant to
¶ 9 The appellate court affirmed the dismissal. 2024 IL App (1st) 221521. It found that “Illinois courts have declined to recognize tortious interference with custodial rights as a cause of action regardless of the damages claimed.” Id. ¶ 15. It declined
¶ 10 Presiding Justice Oden Johnson dissented, acknowledging that an action for tortious interference with custodial rights has not been recognized in Illinois but arguing that public policy dictates recognizing the cause of action. Id. ¶ 33 (Oden Johnson, P.J., dissenting).
¶ 11 We granted Viera’s petition for leave to appeal to this court.
¶ 12 ANALYSIS
¶ 13 The circuit court dismissed Viera’s complaint pursuant to
¶ 14 Viera acknowledges that this court has previously declined to recognize a cause of action in Illinois for tortious interference with a parent-child relationship and has deferred to the legislature on the issue of whether to recognize such a cause of action. However, Viera contends that this court has avoided addressing the exact issue that she raises. Specifically, Viera contends that she is not seeking damages arising from damage to the parent-child societal relationship but, rather, she is seeking to recover purely economic damages in the form of the expenses incurred in regaining custody of her children after they were kidnapped. Viera further argues, as a policy decision, Illinois should allow custodial parents to recover expenses incurred in regaining custody of kidnapped children. In fact, Viera contends that disallowing a claim for economic losses resulting from kidnapping
¶ 15 Appellees argue that we should affirm the lower courts because Illinois courts have long rejected Viera’s proposed cause of action. Viera’s distinction between indirect and direct parental injury does not change the analysis. Policy considerations do not support departing from this precedent to create a new tort of intentional interference with custodial rights. Notably, Viera had a remedy to recover custody of her children and for reimbursement of her expenses in recovering custody of her children, which she pursued, successfully obtaining custody of her children and a judgment for expenses against the named respondent in the ICARA action, Jeremy.
¶ 16 A basic tenet of tort law is that a cause of action must be based upon a recognized tort; there must be a duty, a breach of that duty, and resulting damages. West American Insurance Co. v. Sal E. Lobianco & Son Co., 69 Ill. 2d 126, 129-30 (1977); see Tilschner v. Spangler, 409 Ill. App. 3d 988, 994 (2011) (claim based on violation of a restatement was properly dismissed for failing to allege a duty owed to plaintiff when supreme court had not adopted the applicable restatement). Viera is clear that she is only asking for, as damages, the expenses that she incurred in recovering custody of her children. However, the damages sought must arise from a recognized tort. Viera contends that tort is described by section 700 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts. She acknowledges that section 700 has not been recognized in Illinois, but she contends that the tort exists and should now be recognized.
¶ 17 Section 700 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts is found in chapter 33 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, titled “Relation of Parent and Child,” topic 1, titled “Direct Interference With Relation.” See Restatement (Second) of Torts ch. 33, topic 1 (1977). Section 700, titled “Causing Minor Child to Leave or Not to Return Home,” provides:
“One who, with knowledge that the parent does not consent, abducts or otherwise compels or induces a minor child to leave a parent legally entitled to its custody or not to return to the parent after it has been left him, is subject to liability to the parent.” Id. § 700.
¶ 18 As both the majority and the dissent recognized below, Illinois courts have thus far declined to recognize a cause of action for tortious interference with custodial rights. 2024 IL App (1st) 221521, ¶ 15 (majority opinion); id. ¶ 33 (Oden Johnson, P.J., dissenting). The majority below relied primarily on Whitehorse v. Critchfield, 144 Ill. App. 3d 192 (1986), in reaching its conclusion that Illinois courts have never recognized a cause of action for tortious interference with custodial rights, regardless of the damages claimed. 2024 IL App (1st) 221521, ¶ 15 (majority opinion).
¶ 19 In Whitehorse, a father brought suit against four adults who induced his 17-year-old daughter to leave his care, alleging tortious interference with his parental custodial right and that such interference also constituted intentional infliction of emotional distress. Whitehorse, 144 Ill. App. 3d at 193. The father sought to recover damages for the deprivation of the care, custody, and services of his daughter; emotional distress; expenses; and costs. Id. The trial court dismissed the action on the ground that tortious interference with a parent’s custodial rights was not a statutorily or judicially recognized cause of action in Illinois. Id. The Fourth District affirmed the dismissal, declining to recognize a cause of action based upon a tortious interference with a custodial parent’s right to custody, care, and companionship of his child. Id. at 194. It reasoned that, “because of its multiple ramifications and potential for abuse, [it] is more properly a subject for the legislature’s consideration.” Id. While the legislature had addressed this issue by enacting criminal statutes, it had not enacted any civil statutes creating a cause of action to recover for interference with a parent’s custodial rights. Id. at 195. In concluding that Illinois did not recognize the cause of action, the Whitehorse court acknowledged section 700 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts and the fact that it had been adopted by many jurisdictions but not Illinois. Id. at 194.
¶ 20 Prior to today, we have not been presented with the question of whether to recognize the tort of interference with the parent-child relationship in the context of interfering with a parent’s custodial relationship with her child. Rather, to
¶ 21 In Dralle, parents brought suit against the manufacturer and distributor of a drug that the mother ingested while pregnant, seeking to recover damages for nonfatal injuries to their child allegedly caused by the drug. Dralle, 124 Ill. 2d at 62-63. The parents sought to recover compensation for the loss of their injured child’s companionship and society. Id. at 63. This court upheld the dismissal of that claim, declining to recognize a cause of action for the loss of the companionship and society of a living child. Id. at 69. In doing so, the Dralle court distinguished Bullard v. Barnes, 102 Ill. 2d 505 (1984), which had allowed claims for loss of a child’s society in a wrongful death suit, finding that the Bullard court’s holding was dependent on the
¶ 22 The issue left open in Dralle, whether a plaintiff could recover for direct interference with a parent-child relationship, was before the court in Doe. In Doe, a father sought to recover damages from his daughter’s therapist, related to the psychiatric treatment of the daughter. Doe, 183 Ill. 2d at 285-86. The father alleged, inter alia, intentional interference with the parent-child relationship. Id. at 273. The Doe court acknowledged the issue left open by Dralle and the split in authority evidenced by Kunz, Whitehorse, and Dymek. Id. at 285-86. It held that the holding of Dralle did not depend on a distinction between direct and indirect interference. Id. at 286. The Doe court found that the same considerations in Dralle that precluded recovery for lost society and companionship also applied when the interference with the parent-child relationship was direct. Id.
¶ 23 Thereafter, this court revisited a claim of interference with a parent-child relationship in the context of nonfatal injuries to a child in Vitro, where parents attempted to recover for the loss of society of a child caused by negligent interference with a family relationship. Vitro, 209 Ill. 2d at 79-80. In Vitro, we reaffirmed Dralle, primarily reasoning that there was no statutory basis for an action for the loss of filial consortium resulting from a child’s nonfatal injuries. Id. at 88.
¶ 24 In support of her claim that Illinois should recognize the tort of interference with a parent’s custodial rights, Viera acknowledges the above holdings but argues that they are distinguishable. Instead, Viera relies primarily on Dymek, Kunz, and cases from other jurisdictions recognizing the tort of interference with custodial rights. Viera contends that we should adopt the elements of section 700 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, but only insofar as to claims for economic damages.
¶ 25 The cases relied upon by Viera are distinguishable. In Dymek, a divorced father sued his ex-wife and his son’s psychiatrist, alleging they conspired to brainwash the son and destroy the society and companionship the father had with his son. Dymek, 128 Ill. App. 3d at 860-61. Relying on wrongful death caselaw, the First District recognized an independent tort claim for loss of a child’s society and companionship. Id. at 868. However, while not specifically overruled by Doe, Dymek is inconsistent with and implicitly overruled by Doe.
¶ 26 Another case relied upon by Viera, Kunz, is closer to the fact pattern at issue here. In Kunz, maternal grandparents put their granddaughter up for adoption
¶ 27 From this caselaw, it is clear that we have deferred to our legislative branch and declined to judicially create a tort cause of action for interference with the parent-child relationship. Viera acknowledges this but, seeking a sweeping policy change, asks us to depart from this precedent and recognize a limited tort of interference with the parent-child relationship, where a plaintiff alleges interference with custody and only seeks to recover the expenses incurred in regaining custody. This precise relief is, however, provided for by the provisions of the Hague Convention.
¶ 28 Congress has implemented the provisions of the Hague Convention with ICARA (
¶ 29 We further note that the Illinois legislature has acted in this area, by enacting statutes that impose criminal sanctions rather than civil penalties.
¶ 30 Lastly, we reject the contention that there is a universal trend in other states to adopt the tort of interference with the parent-child relationship. While a number of states have done so, other states have declined to recognize the tort. Compare Plante v. Engel, 469 A.2d 1299 (N.H. 1983) (relied on its own constitution and section 700 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts to recognize tort of intentional
¶ 31 We have repeatedly taken the position that, while it is within our judicial authority to adopt a restatement and make it binding upon Illinois courts, it is more appropriate for the legislative branch to decide whether a new cause of action should be created in Illinois. See Tilschner, 409 Ill. App. 3d at 990 (“A restatement is not binding on Illinois courts unless it is adopted by our supreme court.“). Thus, we continue to decline to judicially recognize a cause of action for tortious interference with the parent-child relationship.
¶ 32 CONCLUSION
¶ 33 Viera seeks damages in the form of the expenses that she incurred in regaining custody of her children. She contends that Illinois has only refused to recognize a cause of action for tortious interference with the parent-child relationship when the damages are based on the lost or damaged society between the parent and the child but that it has not addressed the tort in the context of purely financial losses. Admittedly, the financial cost of recovering custody could be an easier calculus than the cost of any damage to the societal relationship between a parent and child. However, under Illinois law, damages are intrinsically tied to the tort; there must be an underlying tort for the plaintiff to recover. This court has never addressed section 700 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, and it has not adopted that section implicitly or otherwise. We defer this question to our legislative branch, which has operated in this area by enacting criminal statutes addressing interference with custody. As of today, however, the legislature has refrained from enacting any civil statutes that allow recovery based on section 700 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts or its elements, despite the caselaw that has developed in the nearly 40 years since Whitehorse.
¶ 34 For the foregoing reasons, we affirm the judgment of the appellate court, which affirmed the circuit court’s dismissal of Viera’s complaint.
¶ 35 Judgments affirmed.
