Rachel Canning: Does Teen Suing Parents For College Tuition Have A Case?

Rachel Canning is angry that her parents kicked her out of the house, so the 18-year-old is planning to take them to court and demand that they pay for her college education.

Rachel is a cheerleader at Morris Catholic High School in Denville, New Jersey, where she is on the honor roll. But outside of school, the teen has a difficult relationship with her parents and was even kicked out of the home.

That is where the court case comes in. Canning claims that her parents abandoned her and are refusing to pay for her college tuition, despite the fact that she’s been accepted to several schools.

The strange case has made national headlines since entering the news this week, leading people to label Rachel Canning as a “brat” and “entitled.” But there may be more to the case than meets the eye, legal experts say.

Though teens have taken their parents to court in the past for financial support or emancipation, this case may be unprecedented, experts say.

“This young woman is actually saying, ‘I want the court to compel my parents to continue to support me financially. That’s what’s unique in this case,” Mary Coogan, assistant director of the nonprofit Advocates for Children of New Jersey, told Yahoo Shine. “So this young lady is in a unique situation because it does become very fact-sensitive. There’s really no law directly on point.”

Rachel Canning also has the support of a local attorney, John Inglesino, the father of Rachel’s best friend who is putting her up while she’s out of her parents’ house. Inglesino is funding the lawsuit.

Sean Canning, Rachel’s father, said he was shocked when he learned his own daughter would be taking him to court.

“We’re being sued by our child,” said Canning, a former police chief in Lincoln Park, N.J. “I’m dumbfounded, so is my wife, so are my other daughters.”

Rachel Canning is asking for the court to free up a college fund her parents have set up, as well as requiring her parents to pay more than $5,000 in outstanding tuition to her private high school.