Illinois HB5176: Defining Parental Alienation and a Safe Parent
This page is general information about a pending bill, not legal advice. For how this would apply to a specific case, consult an attorney licensed in Illinois.
Bill: IL HB5176 (2025-2026) • Illinois • In committee (House Rules) • Last checked: June 2026
Illinois HB5176 would create a Family Law Definitions Act that defines three terms and requires every family court in the state to use them: “parental alienation,” “safe parent,” and “high conflict.” Its defining feature is that it ties parental alienation to harming a “safe parent” and writes broad abuse protections into each definition. It was filed in February 2026 and sits in the House Rules Committee.
Estrangement caused by genuine abuse is not parental alienation. HB5176 is unusual because it builds that line into the statute itself: a parent acting in good faith to protect a child from harm is not “alienating,” and a child’s fear or distress tied to abuse is not “high conflict.”
What this bill is
HB5176 does not change custody standards directly. It is a definitions bill. It would set fixed, statewide meanings for three labels that get used loosely in family court, and it would make those meanings binding. Sponsored by Representative Anne Stava, it was filed on February 5, 2026.
Why it matters for parental alienation
Most parental-alienation bills either define the term or tell courts to weigh it. HB5176 does something narrower and more cautious. It defines parental alienation, but only as conduct aimed at a parent the law would recognize as a “safe parent,” and it surrounds that definition with protections for abuse survivors. That places it closer to the bills that aim to keep alienation theory from being used against a protective parent than to the bills that broadly elevate alienation as harm. It also tries to stop the common workaround of relabeling: courts could not use a different term to sidestep these definitions.
What the bill would do
The bill defines three terms.
A “safe parent” is a parent who does not abuse or neglect the child and does not abuse the other parent, with a narrow exception for past abuse only where a treating provider documents successful, sustained treatment and low risk of recurrence. A safe parent must also be judged able to care for the child safely without supervision, must not be the subject of an active order of protection, and must not be under care for a condition the court finds poses a risk to the child.
“Parental alienation” is defined narrowly. An act or statement counts only when all of these are true: it seeks, without good cause, to estrange or emotionally distance the child from a safe parent; it influences the child in bad faith, meaning the content is false or defamatory, factually selective or obfuscating, or age-inappropriate; and it is not a reasonable, good-faith effort by a safe parent to protect the child’s safety or mental and emotional health. If the conduct is aimed at a parent who is not a safe parent, it counts as alienation only if that parent proves by clear and convincing evidence that it was unnecessary and unrelated to the child’s safety. A statement also has to be objectively false or misleading, or made with reckless disregard for the truth.
“High conflict” behavior is defined just as carefully. It must be combative, petty, or unreasonable; it must be arbitrary opposition to the other parent’s time that is not justified by real safety concerns; it must not be the behavior of a safe parent; and it must not be a reaction arising from abuse trauma, fear of a current or former abuser, distress, PTSD, depression, or anxiety. Where abuse by the other parent is shown by a preponderance of the evidence, the bill presumes the conduct is not high conflict unless the alleged abuser rebuts that by clear and convincing evidence.
Finally, the bill makes these definitions mandatory in all Illinois family-law proceedings, bars using substitute terms to evade them, and states that a court’s failure to apply them is reversible legal error and grounds for appeal.
Where it stands
HB5176 was filed on February 5, 2026, received its first reading on February 10, 2026, and was referred to the House Rules Committee the same day. In Illinois, the Rules Committee is where many bills wait, and a bill must be assigned out to a substantive committee to advance. As of June 2026 it had not moved further, so its survival this session is not assured.
Updates
February 2026
HB5176 was filed and referred to the House Rules Committee. What it means: the bill is at the earliest active stage and needs to be released to a substantive committee to move.
Common questions
Does HB5176 make parental alienation illegal in Illinois? No. It is a definitions bill. It would set binding meanings for “parental alienation,” “safe parent,” and “high conflict” and require courts to use them, rather than create a crime or a new penalty.
Could this bill be used against a parent reporting abuse? It is written to do the opposite. Alienation is defined only as conduct against a “safe parent,” and a child’s distress or a parent’s protective actions tied to abuse are expressly excluded from “alienation” and “high conflict.” Whether it would work that way in practice is part of what courts and advocates would test.
Is HB5176 law yet? No. As of June 2026 it is in the House Rules Committee and has not had a substantive committee hearing or a floor vote.
Sources
- Illinois General Assembly, HB5176 (104th General Assembly), Bill Status. https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?GAID=18&DocNum=5176&DocTypeID=HB&LegId=166797&SessionID=114
- Illinois General Assembly, HB5176 Full Text (as introduced). https://www.ilga.gov/documents/legislation/104/HB/PDF/10400HB5176.pdf
If you are struggling right now
- 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988
- Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: 1-800-422-4453
- NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264
Author: Alex Buckles (PAC Founder) • Last reviewed: June 7, 2026
