The estranged parents of a 21-year-old New Jersey woman have been ordered to pay her college tuition, but they say they won't write any checks until they form a relationship again with their daughter.
A Camden County, New Jersey, judge used a legal precedent in the state that says divorced parents may be required to help pay for their child's education, regardless of the child's age. The judge says Caitlyn Ricci's divorced parents, Michael Ricci and Maura McGarvey, will have to pay $16,000 to Temple University in Philadelphia so their daughter can continue her studies.
McGarvey said she can't believe her daughter sued her, or that Caitlyn's grandparents, McGarvey's former in-laws, are paying for her lawyer. "From the time Caitlyn was a teenager she was a challenging child, but I think all teenagers are," she told WPVI-TV. "I think she just wants money. She wants us to pay for her education. She feels this is owed to her."
McGarvey and Ricci are appealing the ruling. They have not paid the tuition bill, which is now overdue.