Should kids be allowed to sue their parents?

[DaffyKD]

There are a several things that bother me...

1. Daughter refused to live by her parent's rules in their house so she walked out the door.

2. She is staying with a friend whose father arranged for her to meet with the lawyer and encouraged her to sue her parents. The father wants child support for her-- wait! she is over 18, no child support. He can ask for assistance with her expenses but child support isn't the method.

3. She doesn't want to be a part of the family but wants their money. There is such a thing as public school. Yes, she would have to change schools at the end of her senior year but, again, her choice.

4. Supposedly she has been cutting school, doing poorly, etc. Which college would take someone who is not passing their classes? No college acceptance, no need for college tuition. She may have already had an acceptance before she walked out the door, but that does not mean that the school will not take back the acceptance. I know several kids who were accepted at their first choice school who decided to skate once they received their acceptance to the point they did not have an acceptable GPA their last semester. Imagine their surprise when that letter came telling them "we are sorry but you are no longer wanted by our school due to your poor grades during your last semester."

I have always told me kids that when you live at home, you take the good and you take the bad.

DaffyKD

[carnation]

See, that's what bothers me. Over the years, I've known of several kids who moved out, egged on by the siren call of another family who had Heaven knows what motive. To prove their goodness? To hurt the birth family? Or even, as recently happened here, to get a good girl to commit crimes with their family?

We have also known of many teens who lied about their home situation so they could live with a boyfriend or friends/move to Hollywood/date a sketchy guy or girl/get even with their parents for not buying them expensive electronics, etc. Abuse certainly occurs but so do horrific lies. And this just sounds bizarre.

[KDCat]

Originally Posted by carnation

See, that's what bothers me. Over the years, I've known of several kids who moved out, egged on by the siren call of another family who had Heaven knows what motive. To prove their goodness? To hurt the birth family? Or even, as recently happened here, to get a good girl to commit crimes with their family?

We have also known of many teens who lied about their home situation so they could live with a boyfriend or friends/move to Hollywood/date a sketchy guy or girl/get even with their parents for not buying them expensive electronics, etc. Abuse certainly occurs but so do horrific lies. And this just sounds bizarre.

I knew a lot more kids with dicey parents than parents with dicey kids. Much of my reaction to this case is filtered through that personal experience.

I ran down a chart that is put out by the National Conference of State Legislatures which lists a very brief of summary of what each state allows. A few states would allow what this kid is requesting. Another lawyer in my office who does family law has opined that there is a colorable legal argument that NJ is violating equal protection by allowing child support to be ordered for adult children of divorced parents but not for adult children of married parents. There isn't a good public policy reason to order college support for one, but not the other, and NJ apparently allows courts to order support for adult college-enrolled children in divorce decrees.

It's a tricky policy issue. How do we manage the financial emancipation of adult children in an economy where many of them aren't really able to support themselves until well after they reach legal adulthood? I'm a proud member of Team Commie, so I'd broaden grants and give stipends for young people who are attending college, but THAT ain't gonna fly in the current political environment.

You can see the overview here:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-s...for-adult.aspx

http://www.ncsl.org/research/human-s...for-adult.aspx