Bock v. Lindquist

PETERSON, Justice.

The issue in this case, certified by the trial court as important and doubtful, 1 is whether a right of action by a parent for alienation of a child’s affections should be judicially recognized. We hold that the parent has no such cause of action and accordingly reverse the trial court’s order denying defendants’ motion to dismiss.

This litigation arises out of an acrimonious intra-family dispute involving custody of James Carson Whedbee Bock (hereafter Carson), born on April 6, 1965. Allan C. Bock, the plaintiff, adopted Carson in 1973, after his marriage to Carson’s mother,…