Finally, a judge with some common sense!

VaBusa

oRg Gal
Staff member
Administrator
I won't lie, I honestly assumed this case would go in the opposite direction, opening the flood gates for our "but I'm entitled" generation to successfully sue their parents for college tuition and related expenses when things don't go their way...

SOOOOOO glad she didn't win, and this again shows why I have such disdain for lawyers - far too many find the most ridiculous reasons to sue. This time it didn't work. :thumbsup:

Teen who sued parents for college funds denied
 
Thank god the judge had some common sense. Sorry your 18 years old, you think your smart enough to go out on your own, well here is your chance to experience the real world and get by on your own achievments and abilities to support yourself...Don't like my rules, I think you will find real life has a lot more rules you wont like...

This is what the every one gets a trophy your all special leave no child behind gets us...wake up folks this is the future right here of the mistakes parents have been making in raising this current generation of entitlement...
 
Plenty of people work to pay for higher education...who in their right mind would sue their parents...they should repo the car they likely bought her as well or work out a payment plan...that would be an additional life lesson.
 
Plenty of people work to pay for higher education...who in their right mind would sue their parents...they should repo the car they likely bought her as well or work out a payment plan...that would be an additional life lesson.

I would imagine all it took was the friend's parent that was a lawyer, thinking "hey, I think we have a case here!" and perhaps a name could be made had he/she won such a landmark judgement.

I'm so sick of the sense of entitlement in today's youth!! It starts at our children's birthday parties, you know, where you invite all of the kiddos and everyone gets a little bag of goodies just for coming? From that point on, our kids have been taught that they should expect something, always, even if it's not their special day :banghead:

Don't get me started...just so thankful this case didn't go as I assumed it might. Lawyers and lawsuits like this are making America circle the toilet more and more...
 
The judge got pissed when he listened to a VM that the daughter left the mom..it was reallly bad....
 
The judge said they'd revisit the college tuition in May or so.

NJ has really draconian laws for child support. You can end up paying child support to your own kid.

You are legally responsible for paying for your kid's education or till they turn 18, whichever comes last. So if she wants to attend collage, odds are she will win. It happens frequently for divorced couples. I believe this is the first time they're testing the law for a married couple.
 
Revisit? Since when are parents on the hook for an education? Parents owe their kids a college education?
 
Revisit? Since when are parents on the hook for an education? Parents owe their kids a college education?

If the parents are divorced, the answer is definitely yes. This case will decide if married couples will also be subject to the same rulings that divorced couples had to go through.

New Jersey courts generally view college education as a necessity. The recent trend in New Jersey has been to require parents to pay the college costs for their children.

In evaluating whether parents should contribute toward the cost of their children’s higher education, courts must consider the complete set of facts of each case. In addition, courts will analyze the following factors:

whether the parent would have contributed toward the costs of the requested higher education if they still lived together
the background values and goals of the parent and the reasonableness of the expectation that the child attain higher education
the amount sought by the child for the cost of higher education
the ability of the parent to pay that cost
the relationship of the requested contribution to the kind of school or course of study sought by the child
the financial resources of both parents
the commitment to and aptitude of the child for the requested education
the financial resources of the child, including assets owned individually or held in custodianship or trust
the ability of the child to earn income during the school year or on vacation
the availability of financial aid in the form of college grants and loans
the child's relationship to the paying parent, including mutual affection and shared goals as well as responsiveness to parental advice and guidance, and
the relationship of the education requested to any prior training and to the overall long-range goals of the child.

If there is an ongoing dispute as to who should pay for college, the court will schedule a “plenary” (full) hearing. Parents will need to exchange “discovery” (relevant information and documents), including their tax returns and W-2s, and they will need to prepare a Case Information Sheet, which includes a complete list of their assets.

At the hearing, the judge will review the evidence and listen to the parents’ testimony. Thereafter, the court will determine each parent’s contribution to college based on the foregoing factors. The court may also determine if any child support orders should be modified (changed).


And....


Isn’t My Child Emancipated at Age 18?

No. Emancipation is the legal act by which a child is released from the control and support of a parent. Practically speaking, this means the child is no longer entitled to financial support.

It’s important to know that turning 18 does not automatically trigger emancipation. In some cases, even children who have turned 18 continue to be dependent on their parents. Similarly, the obligation to continue supporting your child doesn’t automatically end when your child reaches age 18 unless your child support agreement contains a specific provision that says child support ends at age 18. And even then, a court may later decide that you should continue providing some support for college costs.

Without such a provision in your property settlement agreement, termination of support will be determined by New Jersey law. In New Jersey, courts may and often do, order the payment of support and expenses for a child attending college. The mere fact that such a child is over 18 will not prevent a court from ordering that the parent(s) must continue to support the child.
 
What is the Leading Case Regarding Parental Obligations to Pay for College?

The leading case is Newburgh v. Arrigo, 88 N.J. 529 (1982). In this case, the Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the parental duty to provide an education to children extends to the responsibility to provide a college education.
 
NJ court orders divorced father to pay half of daughter's pricey law school expenses | NJ.com

Snyder pointed out that the daughter, who graduated from Rutgers University a few months before her parents' 26-year marriage officially ended, didn't enroll in law school until 2012. Livingston claimed she had previously agreed to start within a year or two of graduating college.

Instead, she took some time off from school and got a full-time job.


Even though father and daughter were no longer communicating, Livingston offered to put up $7,500 per year if she chose Rutgers Law School and lived at home. His daughter opted to go to Cornell instead.

The judges supported the daughter, saying that the divorce agreement did not explicitly give the father a say about which school she could chose.

The judges, sitting in Middlesex County, upheld a lower court's decision and told Rutgers University history professor James C. Livingston he'll have to give his daughter more than $112,000 so she can pay the $225,000 tab to attend Cornell Law School.

The ruling came as no surprise to attorney Daniel H. Brown, who represented Patricia Rossi, Livingston's former wife.
 
hahahahahahahhaha. I'd like to loan this girl to Josef Fritzl for a year, and then see if she thinks her parents are abusive.


"Normal, healthy people want to help their children," Helfand said. "The Cannings simply don’t want to pay. They want to strip their daughter of her opportunities."

She said the Cannings treated their daughter in an "abnormal" way that made it "untenable" for her to stay in the house. For instance, Helfand said, Sean Canning would not allow Rachel to have a boyfriend while a senior in high school. Rachel Canning also claims her parents are abusive, contributed to an eating disorder she developed and pushed her to get a basketball scholarship.
 
Well, I'm glad I'm not in NJ :laugh:

Point is, I think most parents want to help their kids and do the right thing if they can, but the case that started this conversation is (hopefully) a different animal. This daughter wasn't abiding by the rules, she left, then said she was kicked out, blah blah blah, then she wants her parents to pay for her to do whatever she wants in spite of the rules they expect her to follow. If any judge ever allows a case like this to go in favor of the clearly spoiled rotten kid that thinks she can do whatever she wants and get away with it, it'll surely be damning for the rest of us.

The entire case reminded me of those first kids that were told "Oh, you know your parents can't spank you, right?" and look at where we are as a society now...empowering kids in this way isn't empowering them at all. It's enabling them to continually find ways to get others to be held accountable for their bad decisions. Our future is bleak enough with some of the kids I see being raised, sense of entitlement being worn like their favorite hoodie...
 
Message from daughter to mom.

'I hate you, have a nice life, bye mom'

Phone message left for Liz Canning from Rachel at July 2, 2013 1:18pm, submitted to Morris County Court, which got the judge apparently so angry:

'Hi mom just to let you know you're a real f**king winner aren't you you think you're so cool and you think you caught me throwing up in the bathroom after eating an egg frittatta, yeah sorry that you have problems now and you need to harp on mine because i didn't and i actually took a s*** which i really just wanna s*** all over your face right now because it looks like that anyway, anyway i f***ing hate you and um I've written you off so don't talk to me, don't do anything I'm blocking you from just about everything, have a nice life, bye mom'
 
So not that I agree with her but I just like looking at things from different point of views sometimes.

Could you technically argue, like in a divorce, that she is entitled to the life style she was used to living being under the parents roof? Just like the lower income earner is allowed collect alimony to continue to live the lifestyle they were a custom too.

Just food for thought. And I'd like to hear opinions on that.
 
So not that I agree with her but I just like looking at things from different point of views sometimes.

Could you technically argue, like in a divorce, that she is entitled to the life style she was used to living being under the parents roof? Just like the lower income earner is allowed collect alimony to continue to live the lifestyle they were a custom too.

Just food for thought. And I'd like to hear opinions on that.

They are willing to let her live the lifestyle she is accustomed to, just she doesn't want to do it under their roof.

The old "My house, My rules" situation. My bet is she wanted to come and go as she pleased being she turned 18 and is now an "Adult"

In my opinion, this is one of those situations where the whole story of what it was like to live under the parents roof is necessary. Already some news of her(as already posted) saying some pretty vile things to her mother. He's a retired police chief and is possible he ran a very strict household. Not necessarily wrong, but if it was overboard, then I can see he leaving. Supposedly she was forbidden to date(have a boyfriend) while in high school.

It's a sad situation and it sucks that a family life will be wrung through the ringer. Reguardless of the situation, I hope she doesn't win. It will only open flood gates for the youth of today to try to get "One Over" on their parents. "Fine! I'll just leave and make you pay anyways!"
 
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