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High school senior sues parents to pay for college

Rachel Canning says her parents threw her out of the house at age 18. She is suing her parents to pay for her private high school tuition, her living and transportation costs. She also wants them to pay for college.

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(AP Photo/Butch Dill)
Students attend graduation ceremonies at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 2011. Rachel Canning of Lincoln Park, N.J. is suing her parents to pay for college.
  • By Staff Associated Press

| Morristown, N.J.

 A northern New Jersey honor student is suing her parents for financial support and to force them to pay for her college.

A judge in Morristown has scheduled a hearing Tuesday in the lawsuit filed by 18-year-old Rachel Canning.

Canning claims her parents threw her out of their Lincoln Park home when she turned 18. She's suing for her parents to pay her outstanding private high school tuition bill ($5,306), pay her current living and transportation expenses, and make available an existing college fund.

Canning's father, retired Lincoln Park police Chief Sean Canning, tells The Daily Record of Parsippany that his daughter voluntarily left home in October because she didn't want to abide by reasonable household rules, such as being respectful, keeping a curfew and doing some chores.

“We love our child and miss her. This is terrible. It’s killing me and my wife. We have a child we want home. We’re not Draconian and now we’re getting hauled into court. She’s demanding that we pay her bills but she doesn’t want to live at home and she’s saying, ‘I don’t want to live under your rules,’ ” Sean Canning said. 

The father said that he and his wife did stop paying the Morris Catholic tuition and have kept Rachel’s car because they paid for it. The father contended that Rachel moved out because she didn’t want to abide by simple household rules — be respectful, keep a curfew, return “borrowed” items to her two sisters, manage a few chores, and reconsider or end her relationship with a boyfriend the parents believe is a bad influence.

She's been living in Rockaway Township with the family of her best friend. The newspaper reports that the friend's father, former Morris County Freeholder John Inglesino, is funding the lawsuit.

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