Free life suit

[JamesVincent]

We've seen some pretty frivolous suits, some pretty stupid suits, even some petty suits. But I think this one is the MacDaddy of all the above.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nj-teen-sue ... d-her-out/

MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. - A New Jersey couple does not have to pay for their 18-year-old daughter's college education, a judge ruled Tuesday, CBS New York reports.

Judge Peter Bogaard denied Rachel Canning's request of $650 a week in support, high school tuition back pay, college tuition and legal fees.
But he said he would revisit the issue of college tuition at the end of April, about a month after her financial aid forms are due.

Long story short: Chick turns 18, doesn't want to listen to Mom and Dad, Mom and Dad explains rules of life, above mentioned chick walks out in a huff. Shacks up at friends house. Friend's dad is lawyer. Lawsuit filed for support.

Correct me if I'm wrong, I believe New Jersey is one of the states that mandates child care beyond 18 or into college? How does that stack up if said 18 year old walks out willingly and leaves care of parents? Can or could they still be held responsible for some sort of tuition assistance? Regardless, about as tacky as you can get as far as I'm concerned. I was lucky if my parents would have given out their tax information so I could have gotten a student loan at 18.

[AndyK]

Effectively a self-emancipated minor?

If she really walked out, the financial aid forms should be a piece of cake: Assets = 0, income = 0, parents = none.

[chronistra]

If she really walked out, the financial aid forms should be a piece of cake: Assets = 0, income = 0, parents = none.

Except that's not the way it works for federal financial aid.

If she's under 24, not married, not a veteran, not a former ward of the court, etc., she is considered a dependent student for financial aid purposes, and she will be required to list her parents' tax information on the forms, with the amount of aid granted based on the assumption that her parents are contributing from their income and assets. If they are not, too bad, so sad.

The feds and most colleges will require that she be off her parents' tax returns and supporting herself for at least two years before she can fill out the forms as you suggest.

The various news articles on this story paint somewhat different pictures as to whether she left voluntarily or was thrown out, but in either case, without her parents' cooperation she has virtually no chance of being able to afford anything more than community college, if that, in the next year or two.

[Kestrel]

If she really walked out, the financial aid forms should be a piece of cake: Assets = 0, income = 0, parents = none.

Except that's not the way it works for federal financial aid.

If she's under 24, not married, not a veteran, not a former ward of the court, etc., she is considered a dependent student for financial aid purposes, and she will be required to list her parents' tax information on the forms, with the amount of aid granted based on the assumption that her parents are contributing from their income and assets. If they are not, too bad, so sad.

She can fix that problem in an hour by marrying her boyfriend.

When you think about it, this is probably the only program that actually makes marriage a prerequisite to getting easy federal money.

without her parents' cooperation she has virtually no chance of being able to afford anything more than community college, if that, in the next year or two.

I know of some low-grade community colleges, and I know of some really excellent ones. I suspect her area of the country has more of the latter. But they all specialize in two-year degrees that provide all the foundation courses necessary to complete a four-year degree.

The timing seems about right.

And if her earnings mean she can only afford to be enrolled part-time at a community college while she is waiting to qualify for student loans, so be it. There's something about paying for college from your own earnings which makes you give a lot more attention to the books, and a lot less attention to the beer and pizza parties.

[fortinbras]

Appropos of nothing, I feel the need to pay tribute to my parents (both deceased about 20 years ago) who supported me well beyond age 24, and under circumstances when most parents would probably move away and leave no forwarding address. They could have lived a much more comfortable retirement if they had cut me adrift, but they were always there in times of need.

[webhick]

I'm 33 and still live with my mother.

In my defense, all our money is pooled and used to pay bills and other expenses. It's kind of like a roommate situation, if the roommates dumped all their money into a joint account. There's no way either of us could afford to live separately.

[chronistra]

But they all specialize in two-year degrees that provide all the foundation courses necessary to complete a four-year degree.

I realize not all community colleges are the same, and I don't know much about the ones in her part of the world. In my locale, most of the two-year degrees are intended as terminal degrees (e.g., allied health, surveying, and so forth). This is trade school, not a starter towards a four-year degree. If a career as a welder or dental assistant is your thing, there are some good programs and good jobs, but if it's not, I certainly could not recommend starting at any of *my* local community colleges in hopes of being able to transfer courses into, say, Rutgers.

Further, even two courses (six hours) is going to run around a grand per semester for tuition, fees, and books and supplies. At $7.25/hour, even assuming she's working full-time that's a good chunk of her take-home pay, probably leaving her somewhere around $200/week to support herself. In New Jersey? Pushing her into an early marriage just for the money doesn't seem like such a great idea, either.

Of course, this has more to do with the increasing unaffordability of college in the U.S. than any real belief that she is entitled to anything.

[JamesVincent]

I'm 33 and still live with my mother.

In my defense, all our money is pooled and used to pay bills and other expenses. It's kind of like a roommate situation, if the roommates dumped all their money into a joint account. There's no way either of us could afford to live separately.

I'm 42 and when we moved out here we got a big enough house for my mother to move in with us. At 67 she was just having too many issues taking care of herself but still very capable of helping out. I pay the bulk of the bills and she helps out with her SS when needed.

I realize not all community colleges are the same, and I don't know much about the ones in her part of the world. In my locale, most of the two-year degrees are intended as terminal degrees (e.g., allied health, surveying, and so forth). This is trade school, not a starter towards a four-year degree. If a career as a welder or dental assistant is your thing, there are some good programs and good jobs, but if it's not, I certainly could not recommend starting at any of *my* local community colleges in hopes of being able to transfer courses into, say, Rutgers.

All depends on where you are at I suppose. Both of the community colleges my stepdad attended had excellent engineering programs and the one, Catonsville Community, had a direct transition to the University of Maryland. There were several more in the Md/DC/ NOVA area that did the same thing. Both also had every computer certification class you could imagine, including some that were either certification or degree classes, like when I was taking classes for my Certified Network Engineer course. I would imagine, judging by the article, that the area they were in was relatively affluent so the colleges were probably good ones.