They’re all assholes (except the lawyer – lawyers are never assholes). 
No matter what happens, the attorney who is funding this case is not doing the girl any favors. Whatever money the parents are paying is one less dime they’ll be able to shell out for any judgment she gets.
(I assume homeowner’s doesn’t cover this sort of thing.)
In case A, the parents are also arseholes. If you have kids, you have a duty to support them, no questions asked. That may not be the law - though it should be - but it’s what’s right. Anyone who cuts off financial or emotional support to a child of theirs who needs it, which includes paying for education, is evil.
Really? So your 22 year old son marries a woman you don’t like, who spends him into bankruptcy - and you should bail him out? Or your 24 year old daughter starts a meth habit and needs you to fund it?
I’m calling my Dad, there are YEARS of financial obligation on his part he didn’t pony up for - guess he’ll spend his retirement savings on supporting me.
Indeed. And it may occur before the ages you offer. I used to teach in a public high school, and I have three daughters. (The youngest is now 33, and all are successful women, in case that may be relevant.) I’ve seen some children from what otherwise appear to be perfectly normal families, with perfectly normal siblings, who are absolutely out of their parents’ control while still in high school. I’ve known some who were incorrigible before they were 16.
I know, my anecdote is not data, just one datum. But I’m not ready to condemn the parents here without more information. Nor saddle them with financial responsibility either.
Cheerleader chick was getting drunk on weekends with boyfriend according to the parents and being extremely disrespectful to parents saying things like “I want to shit in your face”. Parents decided she was out of control and she needed to follow their basic rules and probably said get rid of the boyfriend. Cheerleader chick walked out, they didn’t kick her out, she walked 2 days before her 18th birthday. Parents apparently decided to withdraw their financial support. Cheerleader chick asked to come back home, they said ok but you have to make nice with everyone and dump the boyfriend. She said nope not coming back. She and friend’s dad decide to sue. Lots of allegations on both sides. School called the CPS because of an argument they witnessed that thought was concerning, I have not seen any details of that except the CPS didn’t seem to find any problems.
She is suing to be considered a minor even though she is over the age of consent and to force her parents to support her lifestyle that she has decided she wants. It seems to me that the parents should be obligated to pay for her tuition at the private school as that is a contractual agreement that they made. Room and board for the 2 days between when she left and her 18th birthday maybe. I really don’t see how the courts can force the parents to pay for a non-dependent child just because she wants to be dependent. In the other cases people have been talking about… children in college etc. that divorced parents are forced to pay support for are dependents. Even if she was legally decided to be a minor now the parents are still not obligated to provide college tuition or most of the other things she is wanting.
here is the cite with the transcript of phone message to mother and email/text with dad Rachel Canning, 'spoiled' teen suing parents, blasted by judge | Daily Mail Online
In the first case, yes, absolutely. In the second, paying for the drugs is obviously not the thing to do, but providing the help to get them off it is. Of course there are limits, but they are way further out than refusing to pay for education - which is considered an obligation despite not being a legal one (it should be) - because you dislike someone’s choice of partner.
Dunno, are you destitute? Do you need that money to survive? If so, I’d hope he would provide it.
The idea that a parent’s obligation to their child stops the minute they turn 18 is, frankly, horrific. So is a system that denies people an education unless their parents can pay for it, but that’s another thread…
What might some of those limits be?
This story, and especially the photos of a spoiled-looking kid and crying parents, will likely make most people sympathize entirely with the parents, just as the judge did.
I love contemplating stories like this one. No matter what tiny flaws and imperfections I may have had during my parenting years, I kicked these dude’s asses. Go me.
ETA: I love them and they me. I’m blessed. Just to be clear.
I don’t think it’s fair to hold parents totally responsible for how their kids turn out. Some kids just turn into monsters when they hit the teen years, no matter what.
No.
If the leaked email in that story is real then it looks like the parents were acting fairly reasonable and the girl is borderline out of control. I’m wondering what’s going on with the friend’s father/lawyer. What could possibly make him think this lawsuit was a reasonable thing to do? What a sad story all the way around.
To expand, I understand nature and nurture, but seriously? Kara and Alois fucked up. Right?
(ETA: NM)
She doesn’t have a hope in hell of winning unless she can pull a rabbit out of her hat on the abuse allegations.
Really? So she can do whatever she wants and you have to support her, no matter what?
Hell no.
Yes.
Join the real world, kayaker.
Had to look up the reference.
No. I don’t hold Hitler’s parents responsible for him. Did they teach him all that crazy stuff? Did his siblings turn out the same?
Do you hold all parents responsible for the actions of their children, Kayak? Should we have tried Kara and Alois at Nuremberg if they had still been alive?
(Sorry to spoil your little victory dance about how awesome a parent you were).
I thought I read that it was a 1:30 AM curfew she wouldn’t adhere to.
I have several middle-aged friends with college degrees who don’t earn $650 a week.
ETA: Yeah.
More info is possibly making the daughter sound worse. Possibly because it’s very one-sided info. I definitely still think the parents should pay their daughter’s school fees. I mean, really, how do you expect her to straighten herself out if she doesn’t have the chance to graduate high school this year? It’d take away all her motivation.
Agreed. Fairly often those kids straighten out later on, too, though generally by then it’s too late for them to get into a really good uni, etc. I’ve also seen kids from terrible, abusive families do really well.