New Jersey teen sues parents because they won’t pay her college tuition

[Apache]

Correct. NJ in particular has had some very strange outcomes on things that just wouldn't fly in most other states.

A big factor here would be whether her parents are actually paying her living expenses away from home, and whether they claimed her as a dependent on their State and Federal income taxes. If they did those things, they're probably sucking wind on the high school tuition in a NJ court.

She was in their house until October, so they can still claim her on Fed taxes... 9 mos is required to claim as a dependent.

[Apache]

I still say dump her on the seedy side of Newark.... Her parents are also at fault here for spoiling her so badly.... BUT this will set a dangerous precedent for other suits...

[DumbAss Tanker]

She was in their house until October, so they can still claim her on Fed taxes... 9 mos is required to claim as a dependent.

Although the IRS has made the instructions about the definition of 'Dependent' and 'Qualifying Child (For Child Tax Credit)' so horribly intermixed and confused in the 1040 instructions that they are virtually indecipherable, that's actually not correct, but I can see how you might get to that conclusion in trying to read them. If the child is yours, makes under the exemption amount of gross income him- or herself, depends on you for over half the child's support, and unless one of a couple of technical disqualifications apply, it doesn't matter whether the child lives with you at all during the year, you can still claim your child (Or most other immediate family members) as a dependent.

The point, however, is that if you can claim the kid as a dependent, and you choose to do that, it basically torpedoes any argument you might try to make about the kid being emancipated. It's like talking out of both sides of you mouth at the same time - the Judge will squint at you and say "So, you want to tell the IRS that the kid's dependent on you, but you want to tell the Family Part of the Chancery Court of New Jersey that she's emancipated...? Doooooo tell....."

[Elspeth]

If you read the whole article, you'll see that there is a boyfriend is involved.

As usual in teen girl cases, it's usually cherchez le garçon.

[NJCardFan]

I still say dump her on the seedy side of Newark....

As opposed to the not so seedy side of Newark? The whole city is seedy.

[noonwitch]

She was in their house until October, so they can still claim her on Fed taxes... 9 mos is required to claim as a dependent.

LOL.


I did see something on the news about how there might be precedent under Jersey law for this. Not in Michigan.

[Elspeth]

Now it's getting nasty:

Judge blasts ‘gross disrespect’ of teen suing parents
http://nypost.com/2014/03/04/teen-su...s-first-round/

...Family court Judge Peter Bogaard denied the emergency demand of 18-year-old Rachel Canning to have her folks pick up tuition at Morris Catholic HS, where she’s in the 12th grade and maintaining a 3.5 grade-point average.

In a potential precedent-setting lawsuit, Rachel claims her parents, Sean and Elizabeth Canning, threw her out of their Lincoln Park home, but should still be responsible for paying school tuition, room, board, transportation and other expenses.

Bogaard let the lawsuit go forward, but he had some choice words for Rachel.

He read a wildly disrespectful, expletive-laced voice mail Rachel left for her mom.

“Have you ever seen a young adult show such gross disrespect to a parent in a voice mail?” Bogaard said. “ I don’t see it in my house.”

Bogaard ordered both sides back to court on April 22.

The judge hinted that Rachel might have a tough legal burden to handle.

“The child thumbs her nose at her parents, leaves the house and turns around asking, ‘Now you have to pay me money every week.’ This poses a public-policy issue,” he said.

“It’s a slippery slope.”

For Rachel to win any money from her parents, the teenager will have to show that she was thrown out of their house or feared physical danger, legal experts said.

Sean and Elizabeth Canning said their eldest daughter refused to obey basic household rules and left on her own.

Tuesday’s hearing was the first time Sean and Elizabeth Canning had seen Rachel in person since she left in late October, two days before her birthday.

Both parents cried during the two-hour hearing in Morristown, about 30 miles west of Manhattan, as lawyers traded angry accusations.

Rachel’s lawyer, Tanya Helfand, said the couple hadn’t lifted a finger to contact their daughter or make sure she’s doing OK.

“She is lucky to have her benefactors,” Helfand said of the family caring for Rachel.

“Her relationship with her parents is abusive, in particular her relationship with her father. I’m asking the court to help this vulnerable young woman.”

In court papers, Rachel said her mom has called her fat, while her dad has been “inappropriately affectionate with me.”

“He mentioned frequently that my relationship, in his eyes, was not one of a daughter, but more than that,” Rachel contends.

She stopped short of saying he never touched her unlawfully.

Her parents’ lawyer, Laurie Rush-Masuret, denied all of Rachel’s claims.

The Cannings introduced documents from the state’s Division of Child Protection, showing the parents had been investigated for — and cleared of — abuse allegations.

And the bottom line, Rush-Masuret said, is that Rachel left on her own, explaining, “She has emancipated herself. She doesn’t want to be within her parents’ sphere of influence.”

[DumbAss Tanker]

Saw kind of a still shot of her in the courtroom (It was video, but she wasn't moving), the kid just exudes 'high-maintenance little princess beyotch.'

[Eupher]

Saw kind of a still shot of her in the courtroom (It was video, but she wasn't moving), the kid just exudes 'high-maintenance little princess beyotch.'

Not surprising when she's in an exclusive private school with her high maintenance friends and her high maintenance lifestyle. Kudos to Mom and Dad, though -- they insist on basic rules and won't bend to the threats, the insults, and the disrespect.

[Elspeth]

Not surprising when she's in an exclusive private school with her high maintenance friends and her high maintenance lifestyle. Kudos to Mom and Dad, though -- they insist on basic rules and won't bend to the threats, the insults, and the disrespect.

Apparently, the private school was her parents' choice.

I'm keeping an open mind on this one.