21 Year Old Sues Parents for College Tuition - and Wins!!

I'd go to jail before I'd give this spoiled evil brat a single penny.

Yahoo - 21 Year Old SUes Parents for College Tuition and Wins

A judge reaffirmed his order on Monday that Maura McGarvey and Michael Ricci pay 21-year-old Caitlyn Ricci’s community college tuition.

Caitlyn Ricci brought the suit against her parents in August 2013, suing them for $906 in tuition to Rowan College in Pennsylvania, according to The Inquirer. A few months later, a judge ruled in her favor. On Monday, he upheld his decision, ordering the parents to pay by the end of the year.

But all is not settled: In October, Caitlyn Ricci also sued her parents for another $16,000 in tuition from Philadelphia’s Temple University, where she is currently a student. In October, a judge ruled in her favor, but Michael Ricci and McGarvey are planning to appeal, saying their daughter didn’t apply for all eligible loans and scholarships, The Inquirer reported.

This adult child hasn't spoken to her parents in nearly two years. When she lived in her parents home she refused to obey house rules, she drank heavily and she refused to help out with home chores. The adult child refused to work and help pay for her own expenses. This woman is an adult and should be responsible for her own college costs. Her parents can't afford it and they don't owe her a thing. The ruling in favor of the adult child is dead wrong - IMHO.

Extended education is a privilege... Not a right.

I'd burn it all before I gave her a penny of it on principle alone.

When did paying for college for anyone become mandatory. How about paying for their car, insurance, wedding, etc. as well. I mean if we're in for a penny we might as well be in for a pound.

What an absolute joke this is.

I don't care if she was the "prodigal child" and the sun rose and set around her halo... It's still a privilege and not something any parent regardless of wealth should be forced to pay for IMO. Some choose to do it, it doesn't mean it should be the "standard".

i dont think i can argue my point anymore.
if you care though

www.abovetopsecret.com...

some pretty ridiculous opinions posted on the side of 'the parents should pay' crowd if you ask me

She's going to make somebody a wonderful first ex wife.

I'd like to see where the judge figured that parents have any responsibility for their adult children. I wonder if this has anything to do with the affordable care act, and being able to have kids on your insurance until they turn 26. Even then you don't have to keep them. This is a puzzler.

If they have the money they should pay for at least half....until she gets going. Be happy she's even going.

Then again, they don't owe her #.... She deserves nothing after suing them...

well you know me, i cant resist.
my fist post from that thread

i didnt think college was a right...more a privilege... the parents said that there were going to pay for college but the girl didnt want to follow their rules and live with one of them so they said no... i wonder how does it work.. would they be forced to help pay for her to go to any school? a major of her choice? would she have to keep a certain gpa? i think if people can and want to pay for their kids college then of course they should. if they cant or dont want to i dont think they should be forced to.... im not sure how it is in my state but this is sort of in the same realm...my son just turned 18 but has not graduated yet. im responsible for child support till he graduates.....ok, fine i just found out though that if he was to go to college i would have to keep paying till he turns 21, even if he does not live with his mother....now what is up with that? i would have to keep paying her because he is in college???? ---------------- i just dont get some of the laws..... i dont think a parent should be forced to pay for or contribute to college..... how about you?

I see it like this:

The woman is a 21 year-old adult living away from her parents, and is therefore solely responsible for her own problems. In no way should her parents be responsible for her tuition fees. Even if she was living with her parents, it still wouldn't make much sense for her parents to be legally forced to contribute to her direct fees.

In Australia, there are multiple options for a student to take when studying. One, a student can apply for a number of scholarships to cover costs. Two, a student can pay, up front, a degree's fees in segments. Three, a student can acquire government assistance in which their degree is financially covered during their studies, but they must pay the cost of the degree (+ some inflation) back with their taxes upon graduation and securing an income allowing them to do so. The government in this instance should look at adopting similar policies instead of charging the parents of an independent adult to contribute to her fees.

originally posted by: Hoosierdaddy71
She's going to make somebody a wonderful first ex wife.

I'd like to see where the judge figured that parents have any responsibility for their adult children. I wonder if this has anything to do with the affordable care act, and being able to have kids on your insurance until they turn 26. Even then you don't have to keep them. This is a puzzler.

given enough time some crazy judge will decide that yes the parents will be obligated to keep their kids on their insurance policies till they are 26!! after all the way our economy is going those kids won't stand a chance in funding themselves till they are 30 or 40 and that's only if they are lucky!

anyone else see the article about congress funding a program to help the immigrants get training for the jobs?? I seen the headline but passed it by thinking I'd get back to it but it was gone by the time I got back to it. But gee why don't they do something like this for our kids instead of thinking that they can go into debt up to their necks for the training? Then they wouldn't need their parents insurance till their 26!

a reply to: Grovit
ahh .. different title and different forum.
No wonder I didn't see anything when I checked before posting this.
I didn't see it as an education story, but as a current event legal story.

a reply to: FlyersFan

its all good.
just figured you could check that to see where a lot of the people stand.
im with you and the roo.

other people though...i just dont get their thought process.

you should at least skim it. some of the opinions might blow your mind

Sounds to me the parents are responsible for creating this little monster. They made their bed, now they have to sleep in it.

That said, I wouldn't pay one cent to the brat. I don't care what the judge says. Once again, common sense is no where to be found. Unbelievable. Her lawyer says she just wants to go to college and it's not about the money. If the brat wants to go to college so bad, do like everyone else and take out student loans and/or find a job.

originally posted by: 3u40r15m
If they have the money they should pay for at least half....until she gets going. Be happy she's even going.

Then again, they don't owe her #.... She deserves nothing after suing them...

originally posted by: 3u40r15m
If they have the money they should pay for at least half....until she gets going. Be happy she's even going.

Then again, they don't owe her #.... She deserves nothing after suing them...

Pardon my French, but F*** NO.....

"If they have the money they sould pat for at least half".......Ummm why? She is obviously unappreciative and isn't deserving of any generous deed by the parents... I know I'm different then most of my generation, but too many kids from my generation are WAY TOO FREAKING LAZY.. Not to mention the fact that they EXPECT everything, key example right here in this story the OP shared... This girl deserves d*ck.. If she wants something in life she should work at it trying to earn it herself... If I'm the parents I would battle this court ruling, keep taking it up the judicial ladder until you find a judge who isn't borderline retarded...

God I hate this girl... Reading stories like this in the morning is no good for me. I paid my own way through college working days and going to night school, it took longer than 4 years using this system, so it is possible, but it's a sh*t load of hard work, which is something my generation doesn't understand...

Id burn the cash and give the ungrateful wretch the ashes .. and disown it ... at 21 she can get off her lazy arse get a job and pay her own way through school .. no free rides ..

As to the judge in the case .. more proof of idiocy in action ...

New Jersey is the worst state with the worst laws and the worst judges. What is wrong with them? How can anyone force the divorced parents of an adult offspring to pay for college...especially with how expensive college is these days? Further, it shouldn't be a legal obligation to the parents to have to pay for college. I paid my own way and blanched at the thought of ever considering asking my parents to take on that financial burden!

This girl is going to have a fun time finding employment down the road... When she begins to submit her resume to employers and they run those VERY COMMON background checks, she will quickly have her resume thrown out... Why would ANY employer ever want to hire a girl like this who sued her parents? If she's capable of that, just imagine the possible HR problems you'll have with her... This was a very shortsighted decision on her part and she deserves the tough life that's coming her way... Also, her parents are doctors (or at least one of them), they have likely have amassed some wealth... CUT HER OUT OF THE WILL COMPLETELY.....

She should go into debt for that tuition just like every other student who tries to pay their own way. She isn't special.

I think the judge is right. I think it is the responsibility of the parents to raise their children in a way that will encourage them to be responsible citizens and give them every opportunity to get an education. Too many parents have kids and then dont take a part in raising them. How much better would this world be if every parent cared enough to be a good parent. Why have kids and then turn the world loose on them without preparing them. They had 18 years to plan and save for this.

I firmly believe that children are the responsibility of the parent. How you raise them will determine what you get. With some exceptions. If two people decide to have kids, that responsibility lasts for the rest of their lives. If they have kids by accident. Then that resposibility still lasts the rest o their lives. No mulligans.

To those who think she does not deserve an education, why? You think she's a brat? She didn't ask her parents to bring her into this world. It was their own lust that started it. All parents should be able to care for their children. Or they simply shouldn't have them. Kids are not a privilege, kids are not to be half assed cared for and then expected to function properly in the world. It is a lifelong job. Or don't have them.

How many of you cant pay for your childrens college?


a reply to: FlyersFan

a reply to: Woodcarver

SHE'S 21 YEARS OLD.

Also, I'm a parent. I don't believe it's the law that I have to pay for my children's higher education. I will do what I can, but I am not required. Should her parents be required to purchase her a house to live in once she graduates? Maybe a nice car? She's going to need some money for retirement someday, so they better get working on that.

She wants a 20k a year college education, get a job and/or go in debt like the rest of us. My parents certainly couldn't afford to pay for my college. I had to take out loans. By your logic, my parents weren't owning up to their "responsibilities" because they didn't have the money. Hogwash.

This girl is the epitome of the entitlement generation. They want it all with no work or responsibility involved.

a reply to: Woodcarver

No .. the judge is wrong.

You didn't read the story did you? The parents did try to raise a responsible child however, this 21 year old ADULT was disrespectful, refused to get a job to help pay her own bills, refused to stop excessively drinking, refused to help around the house she was living in rent free. The parents owe this ADULT woman nothing. The adult child owes the parents a huge apology, and the judge in this case does as well.

We didn't say she doesn't deserve an education ... we said the parents don't owe it to her. She can get a job and pay for it herself ... or get a loan ... or join the military and have them pay for it and she goes for free. The parents are being robbed.

The parents had a kid. The responsibility lands on them. Period.

I dont know if you have kids or not. If you do, were they sometimes brats? Did you plan for their future anyways?

They raised a brat? They have a brat to deal with.

a reply to: FlyersFan