Hellobee Boards

I think there is more to that story than what's being presented in the article.

I could see if a person was underrage, forcing their parents to pay for support...but at 21?

OK, I read a little more on a different site that made the legal precedent more clear to me:
http://6abc.com/education/young-nj-woman-sues-estranged-parents-for-college-tuition/392148/
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.

@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!

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...

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: They must!

But then...is that fair for the "new" spouses to be held accountable for her?

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: If this is true:

Are there Situations Where a Contribution to College isn’t Warranted?

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?

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.”

then she shouldn't get a penny from her parents since she is refusing any kind of relationship

@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.

@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