Didn't attorney Tanya Helfand get our memo? The lawsuit that she filed on behalf of 18-year-old Rachel Canning against her parents was dropped! But Helfand can't seem to let it go, and simply won't stop explaining why Rachel just had to sue her parents: "Her parents are both employed and earn in the top 3 percent of families nationwide. Her father has a master’s degree. Rachel’s parents had told her they would be paying for her college education and she operated under this assumption while growing up... Due to differences she had with them, Rachel’s parents advised in the fall of her senior year of high school that she would no longer have their financial support."
Rachel and her parents were having serious problems in their Lakewood, NJ home: She accused them of being controlling and abusive (they allegedly harped on her weight and were critical of her boyfriend) and said they kicked her out. However, her parents, Sean and Elizabeth Canning, say she refuses to follow by their rules (she's broken curfew repeatedly for alleged drunken partying, she's stolen their money and bullied her sibling) so she ran away to her boyfriend's house and then a friend's house, thereby emancipating herself from their guardianship. The Cannings also said that Rachel was welcome to return home if she followed their rules.
Helfand contends that Rachel, a 3.5 GPA student and athlete who has waitressed part-time, was also advised by a school teacher and psychologist not to return home due to this "conflict" and "her high school administrators who proactively reached out to a number of families looking for a place for Rachel to stay in the interim." Leading her to John Inglesino, a local powerbroker, whose daughter also attends Morris Catholic. Helfand writes in her Star-Ledger opinion piece, "The Inglesinos graciously allowed Rachel to stay in their home with the sincere hope and expectation that this matter between Rachel and her parents could be resolved amicably. Their kind and generous deed should only be viewed positively."
Helfand does not mention that her fees have been paid by Inglesino. She also explains:
In New Jersey, if a teenage child of 15, 16 or 17 runs away or is thrown out of a home, no matter who is at fault, and ends up on public assistance or is helped by a government agency, the government agency will find a home for the child and then order the parents to pay support — regardless of how the child behaved or what precipitated the child leaving the home. It is the parent’s financial responsibility, not the taxpayers’, to support their child. And at 18, a child can bring a lawsuit on her own.
In addition, New Jersey is a “no fault” state, which means the law doesn’t consider morality or emotions surrounding the end of a marriage or child-parent relationship when determining financial support. Support is simply a function of financial and other objective factors.
In New Jersey, an unemployed wife can cheat on her husband, file for divorce and still receive substantial alimony.
Why should a child of divorced or unmarried parents receive court-ordered support and a college education, but a child from an intact family not receive these same benefits? Why should a spouse whose affair breaks up a marriage receive permanent alimony under the law, but a high school girl be left with nothing?
The Canning case is not about children suing their parents for video games — it’s about food, shelter and education considering the means of the family. Does Rachel deserve any less?
The family court judge who presided over a hearing (before Rachel finally returned home to her parents) had ruled against giving Rachel $650/week for her tuition, medical expenses and legal costs, noting it "would represent essentially a new law or a new way of interpreting an existing law. A kid could move out and then sue for an XBox, an iPhone or a 60-inch television."
However, Helfand doesn't mention that voicemail Rachel left for her mother, where she said, "Hi mom just to let you know you're a real f**king winner aren't you you think you're so cool and you think you caught me throwing up in the bathroom after eating an egg frittatta, yeah sorry that you have problems now and you need to harp on mine because i didn't and i actually took a s*** which i really just wanna s*** all over your face right now because it looks like that anyway, anyway i f***ing hate you and um I've written you off so don't talk to me, don't do anything I'm blocking you from just about everything, have a nice life, bye mom."
