Teen Suing Parents For Tuition Loses First Round, But Suit Continues

Rachel Canning, a cheerleader and honors student in New Jersey, is suing her parents for college tuition, claiming they abandoned her when she turned 18 in November. Despite a setback in court on Tuesday, the case will continue.

At the root of the case is whether Canning was abandoned or simple left home. Her parents say she moved out of the house because she didn’t want to follow house rules, CBS New York reported.

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Canning is staying with her best friend, whose father, attorney John Inglesino, is paying for the lawsuit, which has cost $12,000 so far.

Canning reportedly wants to be a biomedical engineer and has been accepted to several schools. She was also offered a $20,000 scholarship to attend the private University of Vermont.

Canning’s parents don’t approve of her boyfriend, and that is one issue surrounding the family dispute, according to local newspaper The Daily Record.

At a hearing Tuesday in state Superior Court in Morristown, a judge refused to grant the daughter's request for immediate financial support. Both sides will return to court in April, and were advised to undergo counseling in the meantime, the New York Post reported.

Canning is asking the court not to emancipate her from her parents and to declare her dependent on them for support. Canning’s lawyer also is asking for the parents to be ordered to settle a Morris Catholic High School debt and turn over an existing college fund to her.

“We love our child and miss her,” Canning’s father, Sean Canning, said, according to the Daily Record. “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.’”

Canning has received widespread criticism on social media.

I will say this, Rachel Canning's parents do sound a bit strict, perhaps overly: http://t.co/dW52sQRwr4. Still she's 18, they don't owe her.

— Steven A. (@Neilfan12) March 4, 2014

Irony of Rachel Canning suing her parents: even if she wins, she loses. Any future employer can look up her name & see her "character".

— Stubbornly Me. (@lybr3) March 4, 2014

#RachelCanning is a spoiled brat and exemplifies everything that is wrong with kids today. They deserve everything, work for nothing.

— tweety bird (@2013tweetybird) March 4, 2014

#RachelCanning a disrespectful young lady.Shame on the attorney and law firm that took this case.My heart breaks for the mom and dad. #NJ

— Jenn Clarke (@angeleyednj) March 4, 2014

This whole case with Rachel Canning is so pathetic I don't get why it's even in the media

— hewb (@briannahubit) March 4, 2014

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