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Golfgal, that is in the College Financial system. There are a lot of those systems and they range all over the map. An age for voting, an age for drinking alcohol, an age for military service, an age for driving. Some of those - perhaps not driving - actually make you an "adult". I am not sure if those are related to what I am asking.
What I am asking is do states have laws that specifically say you are an adult - 100 % - at a certain age, totally responsibility for yourself? You can do whatever you choose and/or your parents can insist that you support yourself. That little sentence that I am nagging at - or that is nagging at me - seems to say there is not, that as long as you stay home and never get a job, your parents are responsible for your support. Yet I seem to remember that there was such in Indiana. At age 18, you were totally responsible for yourself and for no one else unless you took over that responsibility.
I suspect this is becoming another thread and should be moved? Or, if you want to relate it to Rachel's case, is there an age - declared by the state of NJ - where the parents can insist that she move out and support herself. Is there an age set in NJ where Rachel can insist that parents no longer tell her what to do - assuming, of course, that she has moved out and must support herself? Or are there always mitigating circumstances, letting the state decide case by case who is an adult responsible for himself/herself?
Understand: I am not using this in relation to Rachel's case. I am simply asking if there isn't a limit. Would someone like to comment? Thank you.
My understanding is that a person is a legal adult at 18. There may be laws restricting adults under a certain age from drinking alcohol but that does not mean a 19 year old is not an adult under the law. It simply means they are an adult who is not old enough to drink alcohol legally.
In many states parents are still responsible for the support of 18 year olds who are still in high school until they graduate from high school. As far as I know there is no requirement that parents pay for college tuition. Sometimes there are divorce decrees that specify that one or both parents are responsible for paying for college tuition but that applies only to that particular family. As far as I know there is no requirement in any state for a parent to be financially responsible for their child who is over 18 and has graduated, or dropped out of high school. Generally you can evict your adult child from your home if you do not want them to live there. If you want to evict any adult from their home you must follow eviction procedures for your area.
I do not think that the outcome of this case can possibly require the parents to pay for college. It might require the parents turn over the money they set aside for college so that the young woman can use the money to pay for college but I doubt that the NJ court is about to state that parents in NJ are legally obligated to pay for college.
I do think that the parents can be forced to pay for the girl's support. If the school that she is attending is similar to other private schools the parents likely signed a contract prior to enrolling her for her senior year. If they did they are bound by the terms of that contract and must pay the tuition. However, that contract is likely between the parents and the school, not the child and the school.
Golfgal, that is in the College Financial system. There are a lot of those systems and they range all over the map. An age for voting, an age for drinking alcohol, an age for military service, an age for driving. Some of those - perhaps not driving - actually make you an "adult". I am not sure if those are related to what I am asking.
What I am asking is do states have laws that specifically say you are an adult - 100 % - at a certain age, totally responsibility for yourself? You can do whatever you choose and/or your parents can insist that you support yourself. That little sentence that I am nagging at - or that is nagging at me - seems to say there is not, that as long as you stay home and never get a job, your parents are responsible for your support. Yet I seem to remember that there was such in Indiana. At age 18, you were totally responsible for yourself and for no one else unless you took over that responsibility.
I suspect this is becoming another thread and should be moved? Or, if you want to relate it to Rachel's case, is there an age - declared by the state of NJ - where the parents can insist that she move out and support herself. Is there an age set in NJ where Rachel can insist that parents no longer tell her what to do - assuming, of course, that she has moved out and must support herself? Or are there always mitigating circumstances, letting the state decide case by case who is an adult responsible for himself/herself?
Well, since the crux of the matter is her parents paying for her college, then the only real relevant conversation is one that applies to college funding.
My understanding is that a person is a legal adult at 18. There may be laws restricting adults under a certain age from drinking alcohol but that does not mean a 19 year old is not an adult under the law. It simply means they are an adult who is not old enough to drink alcohol legally.
In many states parents are still responsible for the support of 18 year olds who are still in high school until they graduate from high school. As far as I know there is no requirement that parents pay for college tuition. Sometimes there are divorce decrees that specify that one or both parents are responsible for paying for college tuition but that applies only to that particular family. As far as I know there is no requirement in any state for a parent to be financially responsible for their child who is over 18 and has graduated, or dropped out of high school. Generally you can evict your adult child from your home if you do not want them to live there. If you want to evict any adult from their home you must follow eviction procedures for your area.
I do not think that the outcome of this case can possibly require the parents to pay for college. It might require the parents turn over the money they set aside for college so that the young woman can use the money to pay for college but I doubt that the NJ court is about to state that parents in NJ are legally obligated to pay for college.
I do think that the parents can be forced to pay for the girl's support. If the school that she is attending is similar to other private schools the parents likely signed a contract prior to enrolling her for her senior year. If they did they are bound by the terms of that contract and must pay the tuition. However, that contract is likely between the parents and the school, not the child and the school.
Thank you. That is what I was asking and my question required that we not talk of a specific case - difficult to do when the thread started with a specific case but doable, since it would have a bearing on any such case that came up in any court.
So, as I understand, states do still have given ages (usually 18) when parents have a right to say "you are responsible for yourself now" or the child has a right to say "I will support myself and live my life as I please" excepting, of course, an occasional mitigating circumstance.
I would guess that the boyfriend's father is not the attorney on the case because he will be an important witness. He has to testify as to why he felt compelled to let her stay with his family, any events he has seen for himself and how much he has expended caring for her.
The fact that he was able to get a prominent law firm to represent her for what could amount to a pro-bono case, to me, also means they all feel it's a pretty strong case. Whatever their client's short-comings may be, they feel the parents' are worse.
CPS may have found that the the child was "a spoiled brat," but there is the eye-witness account of the teacher at school over the altercation between the mother and the girl. Teachers see all kinds of rebellious behavior from teens and overbearing behavior from parents, yet this one arose to such a level that they felt calling CPS was appropriate. There is also the idea of "if this is how mom acts in public, imagine what this kid goes through at home." There is the school itself which advised her not to return home, I'd bet not just over that one incident. The school had suspended her twice in the past, yet, instead of washing their hands of the situation they got further involved to protect her.
The article mentions a psychologist the girl was seeing. I wonder what her records hold? The girl is 18 now, she can release the records for any session she attended alone. They can put the doctor on the stand.
As far as whether she left voluntarily or her parents threw her out, there exists another possibility, that they created a situation so hostile that she had to leave. Just an example, but imagine if they took turns screaming at her regarding her conduct for a period of hours. She gets up to leave and they tell her "if you leave, don't come back." She leaves anyway because she can't take it anymore. That's not voluntary.
There are 17 states that require divorced parents to pay for all or part of a child's college education and support during that time. New Jersey is one of them. Basically these states get away with this because they don't want the kids of divorced parents to end up on welfare when they hit 18. The same reasoning could be applied here. I don't think it is outside the realm of possibility that the court would see that and rule they have to pay for all or part of her college education as well.
For that matter, this argument would help her with the high school tuition and living expenses. As has been the case for foster kids who age out of foster care just months before they get their high school diploma, kids who lose financial support before they get the diploma and a job, end up on welfare or on the streets almost immediately. It's just not in anyone's best interest, especially a state, to say that as soon as a kid hits 18, regardless of whether they've graduated, the parents no longer owe support. If the parents aren't paying, the taxpayers will.
As far as custodial accounts, IF the account is a custodial one (and I doubt it) she is 18, and in most states, that is the age of legal ownership. "When the current beneficiary reaches the age of legal ownership, he or she will have the right to contact the 529 plan administrator and take direct ownership and control of the 529 account. " There would be no need for any of the lawyer crap. Again, based on what I have read in the article - she's a complete brat and has received exactly what she deserves.
She can't contact the plan if her parents don't give her the plan information. When my son's friend was kicked out of his parents house before he turned 18 and before he graduate high school, his mother wouldn't give him the health insurance information. He had to call his mother's employer's human resources department to find out what health insurance the company contracts. Then the had to call the health insurance company and give them his name and birthdate for them to give him the policy number, etc. Luckily she had the insurance through her employer, or he would have never found his health insurance without taking her to court.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hazel W
Golfgal, that is in the College Financial system. There are a lot of those systems and they range all over the map. An age for voting, an age for drinking alcohol, an age for military service, an age for driving. Some of those - perhaps not driving - actually make you an "adult". I am not sure if those are related to what I am asking.
What I am asking is do states have laws that specifically say you are an adult - 100 % - at a certain age, totally responsibility for yourself? You can do whatever you choose and/or your parents can insist that you support yourself.
Every state is different. Almost all states are 18. Some states it's graduation from high school or 18---whichever comes first OR whichever comes last. Except Nevada, which is 19 if still in high school.
New Jersey is unique because there have been court decisions considering children dependents while they continue education. Just like you mentioned there are different ages for drinking, driving, etc., New Jersey recognizes parents as being responsible for their children while they continue their education after graduating high school. That's why golfgal's answer of 24 is relevant to the OP.
She can't contact the plan if her parents don't give her the plan information. When my son's friend was kicked out of his parents house before he turned 18 and before he graduate high school, his mother wouldn't give him the health insurance information. He had to call his mother's employer's human resources department to find out what health insurance the company contracts. Then the had to call the health insurance company and give them his name and birthdate for them to give him the policy number, etc. Luckily she had the insurance through her employer, or he would have never found his health insurance without taking her to court.
Every state is different. Almost all states are 18. Some states it's graduation from high school or 18---whichever comes first OR whichever comes last. Except Nevada, which is 19 if still in high school.
New Jersey is unique because there have been court decisions considering children dependents while they continue education. Just like you mentioned there are different ages for drinking, driving, etc., New Jersey recognizes parents as being responsible for their children while they continue their education after graduating high school. That's why golfgal's answer of 24 is relevant to the OP.
Luckily his parents were still buying him insurance, but at age 18 they were not required to do so but 18 is legal adulthood and he was really responsible to get his own insurance. He should be grateful his parents were still supporting him financially and still paying his way for insurance.
Every state is differen, even on the issue of high school. Texas for example keeps child support payments going for over 18 if they haven't graduated from high school but does not require any parent pay for parochial school or provide free college for any adult just because that adult doesn't choose to get a job.
As for the college fund, it probably depends on the wording in it. as for the free car she believes she is entitled to have, it's title is probably not in her name, minor children can't be on car titles.
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