Posted on 10/18/2005 7:47:48 PM PDT by twippo
By Ann Givens
The day after Maria Guevara turned 18, she packed her bags and moved out of her mother’s Floral Park home.
She had a strained relationship with her father, who she said physically abused her when she was younger — a charge he denies — and she said her mother was too strict, setting an early curfew and denying her money for restaurants and fashionable clothes.
But after she moved into a friend’s basement in Bellerose Terrace in March, Guevara did something her mother didn’t see coming: She sued her parents for child support in Nassau Family Court.
“I didn’t get along with my mother, so I decided to move out and get my own place,” said Guevara. “I love my mom, but I wasn’t feeling right living there.”
Between the ages of 18 and 21, young people fall into a special category in New York state: They’re old enough to move out of their parents’ house, but young enough to be supported by them in most cases, legal experts said.
Maria says that’s only fair. She wants to go to college and is not yet in a position to support herself. But in interviews and court documents, her divorced parents said they should not have to pay the bills for a daughter who will not live by their rules.
“It’s ironic for a person to act like an adult, live like an adult and yet not want to have the responsibilities of an adult,” said Sean Sabeti of Jericho, the attorney who represents Maria’s mother, Gina Ubillus of Floral Park. “Imagine how many other 18-year-olds are going to say, ‘Wait. I can move out and still get child support.’”
Maria’s case against her father, Marcos Guevara of Astoria, is pending before Support Magistrate Penelope Beck Kahn. Maria’s case against her mother was dismissed last month, four months after it was filed. Sabeti said he had asked for the dismissal on the grounds that Ubillus, who does not work, was not in a position to support Maria, while Maria was.
Maria retains the right to resubmit the petition.
Maria’s lawyer, Jeffrey Trimarchi of Manhattan, declined to comment. Her father’s lawyer, Joseph Kasper of Queens, did not return calls seeking comment.
A number of cases similar to Maria’s have been filed in New York over the years, some decided in favor of the child, others for the parents, experts said.
Lewis Silverman, director of the Family Law Clinic at Touro Law Center in Huntington, said he could not remember a case where parents whose rules were considered reasonable were made to pay child support. In one case, parents who were trying to make their pregnant daughter have an abortion had to pay child support because that was deemed unreasonable, Silverman said.
The strength of a child’s arguments depends on the reasons they aren’t able to get along with their parents and their ability to live independently, among other things, legal experts said. Eighteen-year-olds who marry, join the military or work full-time are generally not awarded child support, Silverman said.
But Maria, who just started her first year at Nassau Community College, argues that her parents should pay for school. She works part-time as a teacher’s aide at the John Lewis Childs School in Floral Park, but three hours a day at $12 an hour doesn’t pay for her living expenses and tuition, she said.
“I’m 18, but I still need support,” she said. “I’m going to college. I don’t have time to be working full-time. It’s hard for me.”
A judge will also look at the reasons for a rift between a child and parent, said Barbara Kopman of Hicksville, an attorney specializing in family law.
Maria said she left her father’s house at about 13 because he physically abused her, a charge he denied in court documents. She said her mother gave her food and clothing but made her come home by 6 or 7 every night and pay for all nonessentials such as restaurant meals and extra clothing.
Gina Ubillus, who is still caring for Maria’s younger brother, 16, is hurt by the notion that she wasn’t a good mother.
“I feel betrayed. I did all I could for her and my son,” she said. “It’s so unfair. Just because she wants her freedom, she’s abusing the system.”
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
Hmmm...I am going to watch this one closely - if she wins I am going to sue my parents for child support too. Hey, even though I'm pushin 50 its still neglect!
Boo frickin' hoo.
Hmmmm.....I worked FULL TIME while I went to college....
Spoiled Brat Politics.
With judges being what they are these days, who knows what they will say. But it sounds like this girl read the joke about the kid who shot his parents and claimed sympathy as an orphan. Instead of laughing, she took it seriously.
Both the mom and her impressionable daughter just must be liberals. If they were conservatives, poor Maria would have been taught the value of hard work and self reliance. The leftist mom deserves to be ensnared in the net of what liberalism has wrought.
Right! Let the damn lawyers and ACLU support the little @#$#.
Hmm, seems to me that my ex only has to pay child support legally until the kids reach 18. Think she has to lose this one on that basis alone.
And, on top of that. I didn't like my parents and moved out the day I turned 18. Never asked them for a dime, did it on my own.
I humbly submit that "Maria’s lawyer, Jeffrey Trimarchi of Manhattan," [should be served with a strongly-worded RULE 11 motion for sanctions].
You didn't like your parents? How sad. I can't even imagine.
Despite all else, I see "It Takes a Village" in this.
We haven't seen enough of those.
Bet a couple of girls (now murdered) mothers wished they'd required the same of their daughters. (Tight curfew) And, what's wrong with paying for extra clothing and restaurant meals, anyway.....she's going to fit right in with the WELFARE mentality.
Yeah, it has more to do with me than them. They are honestly good people.
This girl is totally deluded, no doubt her brother is also. And the parents? Well, where did all this liberal delusion come from? I think I can figure this out.
And complaining about her parents' strictness? Haw haw! Parents are strict out of love, not malice.
(Gabby Hayes voice): When I was a lad, my parents would rent me into slavery for the summer! When I asked for money, I got the belt, was tied to the old oak out back, and fed no supper! In the spring, my Paw set the horses out to pasture, and hitched ME to the plow to bust up the sod! And we LIKED it that way, dag-nabbit!(/Gabby)
But seriously, I hope the judge throws the case out of court and sentences her to a few days in jail for filing a frivolous lawsuit. If she thought living with Mom was bad, let her see what living in Con College is like.
Question: What did the five fingers say to the face?
Answer: SLAP!
Here's a novel solution: Why not get a full-time job and take night courses? Oh, I'm sorry! That might cut into her Mtv and boy chasing time! Silly me!
Grrr. Just another spoiled, doted-on brat who was born in the 80's and thinks she has the RIGHT to have her cake and eat it too.
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