Key Takeaways
- Consortium means the marriage itself. Illinois juries are told to award the reasonable value of the society, companionship and sexual relationship a spouse has lost, and will lose in the future if that loss is reasonably certain (IPI Civil 32.04).
- Only a spouse can claim it after an injury. Both husbands and wives may recover. A parent cannot recover for the lost society of a child who survives an injury, and a child cannot recover for the lost society of a parent who survives one.
- It travels with the injured spouse’s case. The claim must be joined with the injured spouse’s lawsuit and filed within the same period, which is generally 2 years for a personal injury (735 ILCS 5/13-202 and 13-203).
- A death widens the circle. Under the Wrongful Death Act, the surviving spouse and next of kin can recover for lost society plus grief, sorrow and mental suffering, in a suit filed within 2 years of the death (740 ILCS 180/2).
- No formula sets the number. A jury decides what the loss is worth from the evidence. There is no punitive damages award on a consortium claim, and a spouse cannot bring one against the injured worker’s employer (820 ILCS 305/5(a)).
A serious injury does not happen to one person. When a spouse comes home with a brain injury, a spinal cord injury or a body that no longer works the way it did, the marriage changes too: the conversations, the shared work of running a household, the physical relationship, the plans. Illinois law has a name for that loss and a way to be paid for it. It is called loss of consortium.
This guide explains what loss of consortium means in Illinois, who can bring the claim, what it covers, how it is proved, how long you have, and how it changes when an injury is fatal. The rules come from the Illinois statutes and from the Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions approved by the Illinois Supreme Court, all linked in the sources at the end.
What Is Loss of Consortium in Illinois?
Loss of consortium is the harm a spouse suffers when the other spouse is injured by someone else’s negligence or wrongful conduct. In Illinois it is measured as “the reasonable value of the society, companionship, and sexual relationship” with the injured spouse that the other spouse has been deprived of, and, if the evidence shows it is reasonably certain, the society, companionship and sexual relationship they will be deprived of in the future. That is the wording of IPI Civil 32.04, the pattern instruction Illinois judges read to juries. It is a claim that belongs to the uninjured spouse, not a part of the injured spouse’s own damages.
When the claim covers a death rather than an injury, Illinois uses the word “society,” which the pattern instructions define as “the mutual benefits that each family member receives from the other’s continued existence, including love, affection, care, attention, companionship, comfort, guidance, and protection” (IPI Civil 31.11).
Who Can File a Loss of Consortium Claim in Illinois?
The answer depends on two things: your relationship to the injured person, and whether that person survived. The Illinois Supreme Court recognized a wife’s claim for loss of consortium in Dini v. Naiditch (1960), and today both husbands and wives may recover. Outside marriage, Illinois courts have drawn a firm line for non-fatal injuries, as the commentary to the pattern instructions records.
| Relationship | If the person is injured and survives | If the person dies | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spouse or civil union partner | Yes: loss of consortium, loss of services and medical expenses | Yes: loss of consortium, plus grief, sorrow and mental suffering | IPI Civil 32.00 to 32.04; 740 ILCS 180/2; 750 ILCS 75/20 |
| Parent of a minor child | No claim for lost society; can recover the child’s medical expenses and lost services until age 18 | Yes: loss of the child’s society, plus grief | Dralle v. Ruder (1988); IPI Civil 32.05, 32.06; Bullard v. Barnes (1984) |
| Parent of an unmarried adult child | No claim for lost society | Yes: loss of the child’s society | Prendergast v. Cox (1984) |
| Child of an injured parent | No claim for lost society | Yes, including adult children | Karagiannakos v. Gruber (1995); In re Estate of Keeling (1985) |
| Brother or sister | No claim for lost society | Yes, if the loss of society is proven | In re Estate of Finley (1992) |
Two points about the spouse row. First, a party to an Illinois civil union is entitled to the same legal protections and benefits that Illinois law gives spouses, “whether they derive from statute, administrative rule, policy, common law, or any other source” (750 ILCS 75/20). Second, the pattern instruction speaks only of a “spouse,” so an unmarried partner, however long the relationship, should not expect to bring this claim.
What Damages Can a Spouse Recover?
A spouse’s case usually involves more than the consortium element alone. The pattern instructions for injury to a spouse let the jury award any of these that the evidence supports:
| Element | What it covers | Instruction |
|---|---|---|
| Loss of consortium | Society, companionship and the sexual relationship, past and reasonably certain future | IPI Civil 32.04 |
| Loss of services | The value of what the injured spouse did for the household and can no longer do: chores, repairs, decision making, raising and disciplining the children | IPI Civil 32.03 |
| Medical expenses | Reasonable medical bills for the injured spouse that the other spouse is obligated to pay, past and reasonably certain future | IPI Civil 32.02; 750 ILCS 65/15 |
The medical expense element exists because the Illinois Family Expense Act makes “the expenses of the family” chargeable to the property of both spouses (750 ILCS 65/15), so each spouse is on the hook for the other’s medical bills. In practice those bills are usually claimed once, in the injured spouse’s case, so the same expense is not counted twice.
Three limits are worth knowing. There are no punitive damages on a loss of consortium claim, according to the commentary to the pattern instructions (Hammond v. North American Asbestos Corp., 1983). Future consortium damages are not reduced to present cash value the way future lost earnings are (IPI Civil 34.00 series commentary). And the injured spouse’s own losses, such as pain and suffering, loss of a normal life and lost wages, stay in the injured spouse’s claim, not this one.
How Do You Prove Loss of Consortium?
Because the jury is asked to put a value on a relationship, the evidence is mostly about the relationship: what it was before the injury, and what it is now. The pattern instruction’s commentary cites a case where testimony that the injured husband no longer shared in family decisions, raising the children, or household repairs and chores supported an award for loss of services. The same kind of before-and-after evidence carries a consortium claim.
- The spouse’s own testimony about daily life, shared activities, intimacy and the plans the couple had made.
- Family, friends and neighbors who knew the couple before and after, and can describe the change in concrete terms.
- Medical evidence of how long the effects will last. A claim for future loss needs evidence that the loss is reasonably certain to continue, so a doctor’s opinion on permanence matters.
- Records of the new routine, such as caregiving schedules, home modifications, counseling and the household work now done by someone else. A life care plan often documents this for a catastrophic injury.
Expect the defense to look at the marriage too. Questions about separation, earlier problems or how the couple lived before the injury are common, because the claim is for what the injury took away, not for the relationship as a whole.
Deadline for a Loss of Consortium Claim in Illinois
Illinois has a statute written for exactly this claim. Section 13-203 of the Code of Civil Procedure says that actions for loss of consortium “deriving from injury to the person of another” must be commenced “within the same period of time as actions for damages for injury to such other person.” For most injuries that period is 2 years from the date of the injury (735 ILCS 5/13-202). If the injured spouse’s deadline is paused or extended, for example because of a legal disability, the consortium deadline is paused or extended “to coincide” with it.
The claim also has to be brought in the same case. The Illinois Supreme Court held in Brown v. Metzger (1984) that a loss of consortium action must be joined with the injured spouse’s action, so the uninjured spouse is normally a second plaintiff in the same lawsuit. A spouse who waits for the injury case to settle and then tries to sue separately will usually find the door closed.
Watch for shorter deadlines. A claim against a city, county, park district or other local public entity generally must be filed within 1 year (745 ILCS 10/8-101(a)), and claims against the State and the CTA follow their own rules. Our guides to the Illinois Tort Immunity Act and the Illinois statute of limitations cover those exceptions.
Loss of Consortium When a Spouse Dies
When an injury is fatal, the claim moves into the Wrongful Death Act. The lawsuit is brought by the personal representative of the person who died, and whatever is recovered is “for the exclusive benefit of the surviving spouse and next of kin” (740 ILCS 180/2). The jury may award fair and just compensation for the “pecuniary injuries” caused by the death, “including damages for grief, sorrow, and mental suffering.”
Illinois courts have read “pecuniary injuries” to include the surviving spouse’s loss of consortium and the lost society of children, parents and, where it is proven, siblings. That is why the circle of people who can recover is wider after a death than after an injury. The suit generally must be filed within 2 years of the death, or within 5 years if the death resulted from violent intentional conduct (740 ILCS 180/2(d) and (e)). The court then divides the recovery among the spouse and next of kin according to each person’s dependency on the person who died, as our guide to how wrongful death proceeds are divided in Illinois explains. Our wrongful death lawyers handle these cases.
Can a Spouse Sue the Employer After a Workplace Injury?
No. When a worker is hurt on the job, the Workers’ Compensation Act is the only remedy against the employer, and that bar reaches family members. Section 5(a) says no right to recover damages from the employer, other than workers’ compensation, is available to the employee, “to any one wholly or partially dependent upon him,” or to “any one otherwise entitled to recover damages for such injury.” That includes a spouse’s loss of consortium claim.
The bar does not protect anyone else. Section 5(b) allows a lawsuit against a third party whose conduct caused the injury, such as a negligent driver, a property owner or the maker of a defective machine. When there is a third-party case, the spouse’s consortium claim can generally be joined to it. Our workers’ compensation lawyers look for those claims in every serious workplace injury.
How Much Is a Loss of Consortium Claim Worth?
There is no schedule, multiplier or formula for loss of consortium in Illinois. The jury decides the reasonable value from the evidence, and settlement offers follow what a jury would likely do. The things that drive that value are practical:
- How severe and how permanent the injury is. A traumatic brain injury that changes personality, a spinal cord injury or paralysis supports a far larger claim than an injury that heals in months.
- How the marriage worked before. The length of the marriage, the couple’s ages and the life they shared set the baseline.
- How much has changed. Caregiving, lost intimacy, lost shared activities and the household work that now falls on one spouse.
- The strength of the underlying case. The consortium claim rides on the injured spouse’s claim, so liability and the available insurance cap what is realistic.
Because the claim is joined with the injured spouse’s case, it is usually negotiated and settled together with it. Make sure any settlement names both spouses and says what each claim is resolving.
Talk to a Lawyer About a Loss of Consortium Claim
Loss of consortium is easy to leave out. It belongs to the uninjured spouse, it has to be joined with a lawsuit that may already be under way, and it shares a deadline that may already be running. Our catastrophic injury lawyers bring both spouses’ claims together from the start.
We represent families throughout Illinois, including in Chicago, Springfield, Peoria, Elmhurst and Rockford, and in wrongful death cases in Naperville and Aurora.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is loss of consortium in Illinois?
Loss of consortium is the uninjured spouse’s claim for what an injury took from the marriage. Illinois juries are told to award the reasonable value of the society, companionship and sexual relationship the spouse has lost, plus future loss if it is reasonably certain (IPI Civil 32.04).
Who can sue for loss of consortium in Illinois?
When the injured person survives, only a spouse (or a civil union partner) can claim loss of consortium. Illinois does not let parents recover for the lost society of a child who survives an injury, or children for the lost society of a parent who survives. If the injury is fatal, the surviving spouse and next of kin can recover for lost society under the Wrongful Death Act.
How long do you have to file a loss of consortium claim in Illinois?
The same time the injured spouse has to file their own case, which is generally 2 years from the injury (735 ILCS 5/13-202 and 13-203). Claims against a local government generally must be filed within 1 year. The consortium claim must also be joined with the injured spouse’s lawsuit.
Can an unmarried partner claim loss of consortium in Illinois?
Generally no. The Illinois pattern jury instruction on loss of consortium speaks only of a spouse. A party to an Illinois civil union has the same rights as a spouse under 750 ILCS 75/20, but a partner who is neither married nor in a civil union should not expect to bring this claim.
Can I file a loss of consortium claim separately from my spouse’s injury case?
Normally not. The Illinois Supreme Court held in Brown v. Metzger (1984) that a loss of consortium action must be joined with the injured spouse’s action, so both spouses are usually plaintiffs in the same lawsuit and settle together.
Can a spouse claim loss of consortium against an employer after a work injury?
No. The Workers’ Compensation Act is the only remedy against the employer, and Section 5(a) extends that bar to dependents and anyone else entitled to recover for the injury. A spouse may still have a consortium claim in a lawsuit against a third party, such as a negligent driver or equipment maker.
How is loss of consortium calculated in Illinois?
There is no formula, multiplier or schedule. A jury decides the reasonable value from the evidence of the marriage before and after the injury, and how permanent the change is. Punitive damages are not available on a consortium claim, and the realistic value is limited by the strength of the injured spouse’s case and the available insurance.
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Sources
- Illinois Supreme Court, Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions, Civil: Chapter 32 (Injury to Spouse and Family Members, including the Introduction and IPI 32.01 to 32.06), Chapter 31 (Damages, Wrongful Death, including IPI 31.11 defining “society”) and the IPI 34.00 series commentary on present cash value. The case law named in this article is as cited in that commentary.
- Code of Civil Procedure, 735 ILCS 5: Sections 13-202 (two-year limit for personal injury) and 13-203 (loss of consortium deadline).
- Wrongful Death Act, 740 ILCS 180: Sections 1 and 2 (who benefits, damages, distribution and deadlines).
- Family Expense Act, 750 ILCS 65/15.
- Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, 750 ILCS 75/20.
- Workers’ Compensation Act, 820 ILCS 305/5 (exclusive remedy and third-party actions).
- Local Governmental and Governmental Employees Tort Immunity Act, 745 ILCS 10/8-101 (one-year limit).
This article is general information about Illinois law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Whether a family member can recover, and how much, depends on the facts of each case. Deadlines can be shorter than they look, so please speak with a lawyer about your own situation as soon as possible.
