Illinois Supreme Court: non-parents cannot pretend to be parents to obtain custody of children

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that people who are not legal parents cannot use arguments that they are “psychologically” connected to a child in order to obtain some form of custody.

An ADF-allied attorney argued the case before the state high court on behalf of a mother, Maria, whose ex-boyfriend, Jim, was seeking custody rights to Scarlett, a child that Maria alone adopted from Slovakia. Lambda Legal, in a failed effort to weaken parental rights, represented the ex-boyfriend.

“The fundamental freedom of parents to raise their children should not be threatened by the wishes and desires of a legal stranger,” said attorney David Schopp, who argued on behalf of the mother and is one of more than 2,500 private attorneys allied with ADF. “Granting a non-parent custodial rights over the objections of a fit parent would have been setting a very dangerous precedent that would have been ripe for abuse. The stakes are far too high for children.”

Maria is a legal U.S. immigrant who was born in Slovakia. In 2004, she adopted Scarlett from an orphanage in Slovakia while in a relationship with Jim. Under Slovakian law, Jim was not permitted to adopt Scarlett because he was neither Slovakian nor married to Maria. Jim never married Maria, nor did he ever acquire legal recognition as Scarlett’s father. Maria and Jim ended their relationship in 2008.

“Jim was aware at all times that he was not Scarlett’s biological father, that the Slovakian adoption did not pertain to him, and that domestication of the Slovakian adoption or formal adoption in Illinois would be necessary as to him,” the Illinois Supreme Court wrote in its opinion in the case, In re Parentage of Scarlett Z.-D. “Also, Jim testified that he and Maria intended that both of them would pursue adoption of Scarlett in this country. However, the [lower] court correctly stated that ‘a promise to do something in the future does not constitute a factual misrepresentation….’ Jim’s relationship with Scarlett was contingent upon his relationship with Maria, Scarlett’s only legal parent.”

“A promise founded upon considerations of affection or gratitude is a mere beneficence and cannot be the foundation for a legal action…,” the court continued. “Moreover, Maria’s conduct did not result in a fraudulent or unjust effect. Maria is Scarlett’s legal mother. Parents have the fundamental right to make decisions regarding the care, custody, and control of their children…. Further, Jim and Maria do not begin on equal footing regarding the care, custody, and control of Scarlett. As a fit custodial parent, Maria has the fundamental constitutional right to determine with whom Scarlett should associate.”

“As the Illinois Supreme Court acknowledged, the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that fit parents have the right to raise their children,” said ADF Senior Counsel Brett Harvey. “Undermining the authority of a fit parent because another person feels psychologically connected to the parent’s child is a recipe for disaster – one that the court was right to avoid.”