18-year-old New Jersey student who sued parents returns home
Mar 13, – The New Jersey honor student who sued to get her parents to support her after she moved out of their home has reunited with them, and the family is now asking for privacy.
Rachel Canning moved back in with her parents after speaking with her mother Tuesday, but without any promises of financial support or other consideration, according to lawyers for the teen and her parents.
“It is critical that if Rachel does dismiss this matter that she does so of her own free will and not due to the extreme pressure of her parents and the media,” her attorney, Tanya N. Helfand, wrote in the court filing.
Phone and email messages to Helfand were not immediately returned.
Angelo Sarno, the lawyer for Cannings’ parents, said that the notoriety surrounding the suit had damaged the family.
“This is a matter that should have been brought in some counselor’s office, not into a courtroom,” Sarno said. “There’s a long road ahead, this is not something that’s going to happen overnight. The point of this process? The healing needs to begin.”
Last week, State Superior Court Judge Peter Bogaard denied the teen’s request for child support and to have her parents pay her remaining high school tuition. But the judge scheduled an April court date to consider the over-arching question of whether the Cannings are obligated to financially support their adult daughter.
Bogaard sounded skeptical of some of the claims in the lawsuit, saying it could lead to teens “thumbing their noses” at their parents, leaving home and then asking for financial support.
“Are we going to open the gates for 12-year-olds to sue for an Xbox? For 13-year-olds to sue for an iPhone?” he asked. “We should be mindful of a potentially slippery slope.”
Press journalist for hro MEDIA – Debi campillos contributed to this report.
Category: International
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