Another New Jersey Woman Sued Her Parents to Make Them Pay for School — and She Won

A "spoiled" teenager who tried to sue her parents to pay for her school tuition earlier this year failed miserably, but a New Jersey 21-year-old actually won in court this month.

A New Jersey court ordered 21-year-old Caitlyn Ricci's divorced parents to pay $16,000 each year for her tuition at Temple University, despite the fact that neither of them have seen her for the last two years. The parents are still refusing to pay.

"What child does this? It's insane," Maura McGarvey, the 21-year-old's mother, told WPVI-TV.

Caitlyn Ricci's parents are appealing a judge's decision that would force them to pay $16,000 for their 21-year-old daughter's college tuition. (Image source: WPVI-TV)

The news station reported that Ricci's parents were married less than three years but parented their daughter, described as a rebellious teen, in a friendly relationship despite their decision to get divorced. Michael Ricci, the woman's father, said she moved out of her mother's home as a teen to live with her grandparents.

Caitlyn Ricci's lawyer Andrew Rochester told WPVI that his client was thrown out of her mother's house and that the nicest thing either parent had to say about her was that she was a "spoiled brat." In fact, the news station noted that it was Caitlyn's grandparents, Michael Ricci's own parents, who helped pay for the 21-year-old to file a lawsuit against them in May.

Rochester called Caitlyn Ricci "the nicest, sweetest girl" who just to go to college.

The family battle is a tale of they said this, she says that. The woman's grandparents, her father's parents, paid for her attorney to sue for the tuition money. (Image source: WPVI-TV)

The woman's parents told WPVI they would pay for their daughter's college education if she went in-state and if she followed their rules. Caitlyn, however, chose to attend Temple in Pennsylvania.

"It is just unbelievable. I don't think there is any person, there is not one adult or parent who can imagine that this can happen to them," McGarvey told the news station.

On her blog "The Age of Entitlement," McGarvey wrote earlier this month that she put herself through college without parental help, and also paid for her own apartment and worked a full-time job when she found out at 20 years old she was pregnant with Caitlyn.

"I want to help support Caitlyn, not just financially, but in every way a mother supports her child. I want to continue to be a parent to her. I want to let her know that a parent establishes household rules to protect her children, and that a parent has a right to expect that those rules are followed. I love my daughter, and want only what is best for her," McGarvey wrote. "The court system may think that it acted in her best interest, but it simply fed into this 'age of entitlement' and I am fearful for the future for not just Caitlyn, but for all of our children."

The parents are appealing the decision, which was based on a 1982 New Jersey Supreme Court case that said divorced parents had to pay for the kid's college tuition, the New Jersey Star-Ledger reported.

"When [the judge] ruled that way, I said there is no way she is getting anything from me until we establish some kind of a relationship again," Michael Ricci told WPVI.

Watch WPVI-TV's report on the case, which includes a response from Caitlyn Ricci's grandparents:

(H/T: NYPost)