https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Mon, 25 May 2026 08:30:49 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980743 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:29:12 +0000 StrawberryBee 1980743@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mamaof2: yep, they are! I specified PA to try and be less confusing (because I don't know how much the two states differ), but I think I just ended up being more confusing :silly: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980732 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:24:15 +0000 Mamaof2 1980732@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@StrawberryBee: They are in NJ though, right?</p> <p>I am a step parent in PA and your right - my income did not effect DH"s child support </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980728 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:19:58 +0000 StrawberryBee 1980728@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: in PA, unless the step parent is a legal guardian, their income cannot be taken into account for child support. I wonder if the same holds true for college financial aid, and this case? If it has no bearing on it, then putting out that kind of information in the article is really misleading. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980716 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:08:43 +0000 MaryM 1980716@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@swurlygurl: That's what I figured. </p> <p>An in NJ...that salary is not exactly a lot of money... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980715 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:08:34 +0000 Mamaof2 1980715@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: If this is true:</p> <p>Are there Situations Where a Contribution to College isn’t Warranted? </p> <p>There are certain situations in which a contribution to college is arguably not warranted. The most obvious situation is when a child is alienated from a parent and refuses all contact despite the parent’s efforts to maintain a relationship. Even though there is no relationship, the child still requests that parent be held responsible for college. A very perplexing question then arises. Is the child who unreasonably refuses to have a relationship with a parent entitled to a contribution to college?</p> <p> The answer to this dilemma is determined on a case-by-case basis. The Newburgh v. Arrigo case requires courts to consider the “child’s relationship to the paying parent, including mutual affection and shared goals, as well as responsiveness to parental advice and guidance.” </p> <p>then she shouldn't get a penny from her parents since she is refusing any kind of relationship </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980712 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:06:34 +0000 swurlygurl 1980712@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: Hah, from their GoFundMe account:<br /> "There has been a great deal of concern about my "net worth" as my daughter's lawyer gave a misleading statement to the press. When he stated our family income, he was combining the income of two separate households, mine and my husband's plus my ex-husband's and his wife's - (4 adults, 5 minor children, 2 mortgages, etc.) As a public school teacher, my salary of approximately $67,000 per year is public record - I have no reason to hide it. My "net worth" is negative...I have more debts than assets. Neither the FAFSA nor the family court took this into consideration. I want to appeal this case, because I firmly believe that it is unconstitutional and I do not want any other parents to have to go through this ordeal. However, I have been advised that the judgement may need to be bonded (meaning we would need to come up with $16,000 just to get our case to be heard by the appellate court, in addition to the filing fees and attorney fees.) " </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980711 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:05:59 +0000 MaryM 1980711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: They must!</p> <p>But then...is that fair for the "new" spouses to be held accountable for her? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980710 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:05:54 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 1980710@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@swurlygurl: one article stated the day before she was going to emancipated herself she filed suit w/ the help of her grandparents. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980709 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:04:57 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 1980709@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>More just about the legal precedent <a href="http://www.divorcenet.com/states/new_jersey/payment_of_college_costs" rel="nofollow">http://www.divorcenet.com/states/new_jersey/payment_of_college_costs</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980708 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:04:37 +0000 swurlygurl 1980708@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: @Mrs. Lemon-Lime: Yeah, I was wondering if combined income includes the new spouses too, because $270K/4 people = $67,500 which makes more sense </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980706 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:03:36 +0000 swurlygurl 1980706@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Hold on, did she emancipate herself? That's how one of the articles portrayed it. If she emancipated herself, I don't think her parents owe her ANYTHING! She can't pick and choose when parents are convenient for her... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980705 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:02:58 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 1980705@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MaryM: well, they are each remarried I think. Don't courts look at total household income? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980701 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:59:49 +0000 MaryM 1980701@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: based on that story, I'd love to know how a high school english teacher and a basketball coach make $270K a year! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980700 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:58:59 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 1980700@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p><a href="http://mobile.philly.com/news/breaking/?wss=/philly/news/breaking&#038;id=285128811&#038;amp" rel="nofollow">http://mobile.philly.com/news/breaking/?wss=/philly/news/breaking&#038;id=285128811&#038;amp</a>;</p> <p>"In New Jersey, the precedent that parents should pay for some of a child's college costs dates to 1982, when Newburgh v. Arrigo was heard in the state Supreme Court. In that case, the judges debated whether Joan Newburgh - who married her husband, Melvin, two years before he was killed in a car accident in 1975 - should have to pay higher education costs for his 19-year-old son, Steven.</p> <p>"In general," the court wrote in its decision, "financially capable parents should contribute to the higher education of children who are qualified students." </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980695 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:56:06 +0000 ILoveLettie 1980695@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>OK, I read a little more on a different site that made the legal precedent more clear to me:<br /> <a href="http://6abc.com/education/young-nj-woman-sues-estranged-parents-for-college-tuition/392148/" rel="nofollow">http://6abc.com/education/young-nj-woman-sues-estranged-parents-for-college-tuition/392148/</a><br /> It is odd that there would be a legal precedent that would apply to divorced parents and not all parents. However, I'm torn on how I feel about parents being required to pay for their children's colleges or not. I have friends that had to drop out of college because their parents wouldn't pay a dime of their educations or even co-sign on a loan, but would make irresponsible purchases themselves. But at the same time, I think that parents should be able to put strings on their money for their children's education--my parents said I had to go to an in-state college, which it appears hers did too, and if I lost my scholarships, I lost their money. So I'm torn. I guess I fall to thinking that courts shouldn't be requiring that parents pay for their children's tuitions because it's a personal decision that should be decided by each family, not a court. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980692 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:54:39 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 1980692@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@ILoveLettie: @Mamaof2: @ElbieKay: Here's an unbiased article <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2868667/Parents-refuse-pay-spoilt-daughter-21-successfully-sues-16-000-college-tuition-left-home-two-years-ago.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2868667/Parents-refuse-pay-spoilt-daughter-21-successfully-sues-16-000-college-tuition-left-home-two-years-ago.html</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980691 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:54:24 +0000 MaryM 1980691@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I could see if a person was underrage, forcing their parents to pay for support...but at 21? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980681 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:49:51 +0000 ILoveLettie 1980681@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I am so confused why the court would uphold this. Why does that law exist in the first place? I definitely feel like that article--since it was by the father--didn't have all the facts. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980662 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:38:49 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 1980662@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mamaof2: In the article it states divorced parents must contribute to college. Married parents are not legally obligated. The dad says NJ State legislature is trying to pass a bill to protect divorced parents. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980647 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:29:26 +0000 Mamaof2 1980647@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>From the article it sounds like she is bitter and her grandparents are encouraging her to do this - I thinks its a ridiculous law - I don't understand why it matters if the parents are divorced or married?? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980645 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:28:14 +0000 ElbieKay 1980645@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I think there is more to that story than what's being presented in the article. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/wdyt-sued-amp-forced-to-pay-college-tuition#post-1980633 Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:23:01 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 1980633@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>This article is from the father of a young woman attending my alma mater. <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/dad-speaks-out-after-21-year-old-sues-him-to-pay-104864515872.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.yahoo.com/parenting/dad-speaks-out-after-21-year-old-sues-him-to-pay-104864515872.html</a></p> <p>The gist is as a divorced NJ parent, him and his ex-wife, have been sued to pay for their daughter's college education. The student can choose any college to attend. </p> <p>If the parents were still married they would not have to pay at all; it would be their choice to contribute entirely.</p> <p>What do you think? </p>