Plan B Forum

High school student sues parents to force them to pay for her college education

Rachel Canning is an 18-year-old senior at Morris Catholic High School in New Jersey. She is a cheerleader, lacrosse player, and honors student. Rachel is also gaining attention for an unusual lawsuit she has filed against her parents, Sean and Elizabeth Canning. As the Daily Record reports, Rachel is suing them for financial support and to “force them to pay for her college education.”

In papers filed at the court, Rachel maintains that her parents decided that on her 18th birthday, she would be cut off from them, “both financially and emotionally.” In the papers Rachel also said, “My parents have rationalized their actions by blaming me for not following their rules. They stopped paying my high school tuition to punish the school and me and have redirected my college fund, indicating their refusal to afford me an education as a punishment.”

In addition to this, she said her high school advised her to not return home after she alleged abuse. Morris Catholic President Michael St. Pierre, in a certification to the court said he witnessed, “some difficult meetings between Rachel and Mr. Canning.” Another school employee, Kathleen Smith, wrote that in October of last year, she heard Rachel’s mother call her, “a foul name and say she didn’t want to speak to her daughter again.”

The school, despite being owed over $4,000, will not kick Rachel out of school. They maintain that the parents should be and are on the hook for the payment. So how is Rachel able to afford an attorney if she can’t afford school? Her friend’s father, John Inglesino is funding the lawsuit, believing Rachel to be in the right. The Record reports that in his letter to the court, Inglesino wrote…

“Rachel is likeable, communicates exceptionally well and is highly motivated to attend and excel at a college appropriate for her. That is why my wife and I have decided to fund this lawsuit. We know that if Mr. and Mrs. Canning are not required to fulfill their legal obligations as parents, that Rachel’s ability to fulfill her potential will be greatly diminished.”

So what of the parents, Sean and Elizabeth Canning? They maintain they never told Rachel to move out. They also, “contend she had disciplinary problems at school last term, was suspended twice, ignored her curfew at home and bullied her younger sister.” Their attorney, Laurie Rush-Masuret, noted…

“Mr. and Mrs. Canning did not tell Rachel to move out; rather they advised her that she is welcome home so long as she abides by their rules under their roof, which is completely reasonable. However, Rachel decided that she does not want to live within her parents’ sphere of influence and voluntarily moved out, essentially emancipating herself. Obviously, she cannot decide she will no longer live within her parents’ sphere of influence and simultaneously seek payment from them for support…”

Sean Canning, who before retiring, was Lincoln Park police chief, told the Record, ““We love our child and miss her. This is terrible. It’s killing me and my wife. 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.’” He also noted that the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P), “visited his home for about three hours last fall, found nothing amiss, determined that Rachel was “spoiled” and discontinued the investigation.” Additionally, they say Rachel’s college fund has not been withdrawn or re-allocated

A Morris Catholic High School honor student and athlete who claims her parents threw her out of their Lincoln Park home when she turned 18 has taken the highly unusual step of suing them for immediate financial support and to force them to pay for her college education.

Private high school senior Rachel Canning, a cheerleader and lacrosse player who has aspirations to be a biomedical engineer, filed a lawsuit last week in the Family Part of state Superior Court in Morristown that seeks a judge’s declaration that she is nonemancipated and dependent as a student on her parents for support.

Judge Peter Bogaard, sitting in Morristown, has scheduled a hearing for Tuesday. Rachel Canning’s lawyer, Tanya N. Helfand, will ask that parents Sean and Elizabeth Canning, who haven’t paid an outstanding $5,306 Morris Catholic tuition bill, be ordered to settle that debt, pay Rachel’s current living and transportation expenses, and commit an existing college fund to their daughter, who has received acceptance letters from several universities and has to make a decision this spring.

Since the alleged “abandonment” by her parents, Rachel has been living in Rockaway Township with the family of her best friend and fellow student Jaime Inglesino, whose father is attorney and former Morris County Freeholder John Inglesino. Inglesino is funding the lawsuit and hired attorney Helfand, who included in the lawsuit a request that the parents pay their daughter’s legal fees that so far total $12,597.

Sean Canning, a retired Lincoln Park police chief who currently works as Mount Olive’s township administrator, said his daughter’s representation of the facts is not accurate and he fears she is being “enabled” by well-intentioned but ill-informed people who include the Inglesinos. Sean Canning said that Rachel voluntarily left home in October and was never thrown out.

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The father said that he and his wife did stop paying the Morris Catholic tuition and have kept Rachel’s car because they paid for it. The father contended that Rachel moved out because she didn’t want to abide by simple household rules — be respectful, keep a curfew, return “borrowed” items to her two sisters, manage a few chores, and reconsider or end her relationship with a boyfriend the parents believe is a bad influence. <----------- betting dollars to donuts this is the real problem

“We’re heartbroken, but what do you do when a child says ‘I don’t want your rules but I want everything under the sun and you to pay for it?’ ” Canning said, adding that his daughter’s college fund is available to her and not withdrawn or re-allocated, as she has alleged.

In New Jersey, emancipation of a child “is a fact-sensitive analysis that looks at whether the child has moved beyond the sphere of influence and responsibility exercised by a parent and has obtained an independent status of his or her own,” Helfand said in court papers.

The mere fact that a child has turned 18 is not an automatic reason to stop financial support, according to Helfand and several longtime family attorneys in Morris County. A key court decision in the state specifies that, “A child’s admittance and attendance at college will overcome the rebuttable presumption that a child may be emancipated at age 18.”

Prominent family-law attorneys Sheldon Simon and William Laufer both called the lawsuit highly unusual and Laufer said he has seen nothing like it in 40 years of practice.

“A child is not emancipated until they’re on their own,” Simon said. “Even if a child and the parents don’t get along, that doesn’t relieve the parents of their responsibility.” Laufer noted that under New Jersey law, a child can still be declared nonemancipated even if there is a hiatus between high school graduation and college.

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By the way, these people are well-connected and are not dopes. John Inglesino is ... good buddy of Gov. Christie

Gob wrote:Pah!! No photo in the article. Is she hot or not?

here's probably some sort of promissory estoppel theory with a two-part test that applies.

When Judge Peter Bogaard read an expletive-laden and vicious answerphone message left by Rachel Canning, from Lincoln Park, New Jersey, to her mother, Elizabeth, he said: 'Have you ever in your experience seen such gross disrespect for a parent? I don’t see it in my house.’

The judge, sitting at Morris County court added that Rachel had given her mom and dad, Sean: ‘The proverbial f you’.
Rachel, who is suing her parents for ‘abandoning’ her has made sensational claims that her mom calling her ‘fat’ and ‘porky’ led to her suffering bulimia and that her former police chief father dad used to get her drunk and kiss her inappropriately.

Phone message left for Liz Canning from Rachel at July 2, 2013 1:18pm, submitted to Superior Court of New Jersey
'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'
..

A US high school student who sued her parents for financial support has returned home, a lawyer says.

Rachel Canning's return is not contingent on any financial or other considerations, family lawyer Angelo Sarno said in a statement