NJ Student Sues Parents to Force Them to Pay Her College Tuition

A New Jersey honor student has taken the unorthodox step of suing her parents for immediate financial support and to force them to pay for her college education.

Rachel Canning's lawsuit (attached below, complete with email exchanges) alleges that her parents threw her out of their home when she turned 18 and now refuse to pay her way through college. But Rachel's father, a former police chief, says Rachel moved out when she refused to abide by the house rules.

Both sides have lawyered up and spent Tuesday afternoon at a hearing before Morristown Judge Peter Bogaard.

Rachel Canning's lawsuit seeks a judge's declaration that she is non-emancipated and dependent as a student on her parents for support. She asked the judge to order her parents to pay an unpaid high school tuition bill, cover her current living and transportation expenses, and commit to a college fund for her.

"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," Sean Canning told The Daily Record.

NJ Student Sues Parents to Force Them to Pay Her College Tuition