Court Opinion

ID: 9740052
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:26:50.301511+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:15.720781
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE CLARK, specially concurring: I agree with the majority’s well-reasoned opinion. I write separately only to point out that today’s decision is the natural extension of several prior opinions of this court. In Elliott v. Willis (1982), 92 Ill. 2d 530, this court held that damages for loss of consortium are recoverable under the Wrongful Death Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 70, par. 2). In Bullard v. Barnes (1984), 102 Ill. 2d 505, this court held that under the Wrongful Death Act parents were entitled to a presumption of pecuniary injury related to the loss of a minor child’s society. At the time Bullard was decided, I wrote separately, in part, to point out my belief that the presumption of injury should also apply to the loss of society of a child who has attained the age of majority. (Bullard, 102 Ill. 2d at 521 (Clark, J., concurring).) In Ballweg v. City of Springfield (1986), 114 Ill. 2d 107, this court extended the Bullard presumption to include loss of society for adult children. In today’s decision the court is following these cases to their natural and logical conclusion. See also Hubbart, Siblings’ Right to Recover Loss of Society Under the Wrongful Death Act, 80 Ill. B.J. 60 (1992) (analyzing the above cases and reaching the same conclusion).