Posted on 03/03/2014 2:33:45 PM PST by Beave Meister
A New Jersey teenager claiming that her mother and father tossed her out of their home and cut her off financially is suing them for immediate support, current private-school fees and future college tuition. The parents, meanwhile, say that daughter Rachel Canning, 18, moved out voluntarily after refusing to abide by their rules.
“We love our child and miss her. This is terrible. It’s killing me and my wife,” Rachel's father, Sean Canning, a town administrator and retired police officer, tells the Daily Record. “We have a child we want home. We’re not Draconian and now we’re getting hauled into court. She’s demanding that we pay her bills but she doesn’t want to live at home, and she’s saying, ‘I don’t want to live under your rules.’” The rules, he notes, include reconsidering her relationship with a boyfriend who may be a bad influence, being respectful, and abiding by her curfew. He and his wife, Elizabeth, who live in suburban Lincoln Park, about 25 miles outside of New York City, have kept their daughter’s car because they paid for it, says Canning, and he admits that they did stop paying Rachel's tuition at the private Morris Catholic High School. A hearing is scheduled to take place on Tuesday in the Morris County Superior Court.
(Excerpt) Read more at shine.yahoo.com ...
You may or not be right, but one thing I am certain of. This young lady has caused her family a lot of grief, and I wonder how long it will take to repair those relationships, when she really grows up and understands her error. She may think they are unreasonable and maybe even evil at this moment, but I expect that to change as she matures. They sound like loving parents who are really wanting the best for their child. That’s why they care about rules! Rules for boyfriends, rules for curfew, rules for behavior, and rules for chores. So many parents don’t try to impose rules anymore.
A kid sues me and she’ll NEVER be back in my house. I’d forgive her. But I wouldn’t give her the chance to disrespect me again.
I looked at her picture. She’s 18. I’d consider paying her tuition.
I’m just making guesses here, but when you are in a private school you can, at anytime, transfer into the local public school. Perhaps the boyfriend that the parents objected to was going to the same private school and transferring her out of the school was their way of separating them.
They would not be denying her a diploma or education, it’s just not the diploma or education that the daughter wants.
As far as respecting her rights as an adult, I don’t see a dependent high school student as an adult.
“Plus some states require parents to pay for college.”
What? I’d need to see some proof of that. If at all true, it’d be under extremely limited circumstances.
There would need to reliance as well, but that wouldn’t be too hard to prove. :-)
“I’m Eighteen,” Alice Cooper
Lines form on my face and hands
Lines form from the ups and downs
Well, I’m in the middle without any plans
I’m a boy and I’m a man
I’m eighteen
And I don’t know what I want
I’m eighteen
I just don’t know what I want
I’m eighteen
I gotta get away
Well, I gotta get out of this place
I’ll go runnin’ in outer space, yeah
Well, I got a baby’s brain and an old man’s heart
Took eighteen years to get this far
Don’t always know what I’m talkin’ about
Feels like I’m livin’ in the middle of doubt
I’m eighteen
I get confused every day
I’m eighteen
I just don’t know what to say
I’m eighteen
I gotta get away
Well, I gotta get out of this place
I’ll go runnin’ in outer space, yeah
Yeah, lines form on my face and my hands
Lines form from the ups and down
I’m in the middle without any plans
I’m a boy and I’m a man
I’m eighteen and I like it
Yes, I like it
Oh, I like it
Love it
Like it
Love it
Eighteen
Eighteen
I’m eighteen and I like it
Yes, that’s BS. Usually, the age tops out at 18, and 21 in some states. If a child is challenged in any way, the payments can go much later, perhaps 27-28 or more. But forced to pay for college for three kids is outrageous. I’d need to see the decree on that one. It could be that he is tagged for support to age 21, which includes some portion of college to age 21. Who knows.
No way. She’s being a little brat. She’s made all these plans for her life with OPM and the best cure of all for her would be for her life to be absolutely ruined by having her plans kicked over and all of her opportunities taken away.
There was also domestic abuse allegations against the parents, with a teacher as a witness. There is no reason for the parents not to pay the last yr of her hs tuition.
ONe of my boys, when he was a teenager about 16-1/2 started the “I can’t wait till I’m old enough to move out here” line. He turned 18 in January of his senior year in high School.
A few weeks after that he states the he “can’t wait till he can afford to move out here.” So I told him to pack and bags and leave right now. His jaw hit the floor. “But I haven’t graduated yet!!” So I said “you’re 18, an adult, I don’t have to take care of you anymore. Obviously you’re not happy living here so, please, feel free to leave. I’ll even help you pack.”
Never heard another peep put of him. When he graduated, he started paying rent. Kept it up until he moved out for good when he was 23.
Mr. Canning admits a state worker visited the home just prior to Rachel’s alleged ‘abandonment,’ but that the official found the teen simply to be ‘spoiled’ and didn’t pursue the abuse allegations.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2572315/High-school-cheerleader-18-sues-retired-police-chief-father-college-tuition-legal-fees-kicks-refusing-live-rules.html
I think there was a man in Italy who sued his parents for continued support and he won.
She does not need to be emancipated. She is an adult already.
The wife’s family were all lawyers (father; brother). The husband didn’t want the divorce and chose to ignore most of the proceedings. He felt that because she packed up and moved out, and the kids weren’t speaking to him, it was her fault. He felt that he was righteous and she was not and the courts would see that.
Big mistake. After it was all over and all the property was split, the courts came back at him for college tuition. The argument (which the courts upheld) was that both of the parents were college educated and it was the parents’ obligation (mostly him) to see that the kids received at least as much education as their parents. The implication was that if the parents had been HS drop outs, he would have only been responsible until they were 18.
It’s been 20 years. The wife was after money he’d salted away in a CD for his retirement. The family is totally destroyed. The father has not spoken to his children, or his ex-wife, in more than 20 years.
About 17 States have laws that required that DIVORCED (non-custodial) parents pay for college.
New Jersey is one of those states.
With this case, the corrupt attorneys are going to try to expand that right to MARRIED parents.
Wooo Boy. This could be the break DIVORCED parents need to end their nightmare.
Once MARRIED parents are brought into the nasty court system, perhaps the laws will change.
Is the child an adult?
In Louisiana, the child support obligation can continue until the child graduates high school or turns 19, whichever comes first.
This child turned 18 in October despite having 7 more months of school.
Looks like the New Jersey laws on emancipation are not automatic at 18, but are dependent on the child’s circumstances.
The parents are likely still responsible for the high school tuition bill.
Here is the ‘sugars daddy’ lawyer doing the FUNDING for the suing: http://iwt-law.com/john-p-inglesino
This is the attorney doing the suing. http://www.tanyahelfand.com
In New Jersey, for DIVORCED Non-Custodial parents, paying for College tuition is the RULE.
“If you are divorced and have children, then you will likely pay or receive child support until your children are legally “emancipated.” Emancipation is well-defined under New Jersey law: A child is presumed to be emancipated at age eighteen, but typically child support will not terminate in New Jersey until graduation from college. “
http://www.riker.com/.../all-grown-up-top-ten-questions...
For Pennsylvania:
“Pennsylvania no longer recognizes a statutory cause of action for post-secondary educational support. 23 Pa.C.S. §4327(a), was ruled unconstitutional in 1995 by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania in the Curtis vs. Kline case. However, contractually based agreements for post-secondary educational support contained in marital separation agreements are enforceable.
No statute or case law holding parents to a duty to college support in the absence of an agreement. contractually based agreements for post-secondary educational support contained in marital separation agreements are enforceable. See Curtis v. Kline, 542 Pa. 249, 666 A.2d 265 (1995).”
The other states are here: http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/termination-of-support-college-support.aspx
Part of what I don’t get is these same judges who insist it’s the parents’ obligation to pay their kids’ tuition then won’t interfere with the kids’ privacy by allowing the parents to see their grades.Or to know if their daughter has sought an abortion... or anything else. In those cases, the kids are considered adults. Go figure.
Too bad your friend didn’t have someone tell him at the time how important it is to have good legal counsel while going thru a divorce. Little in domestic relations law is ‘fair.’ Tough, expensive lesson for him.
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