Jersey Teen Drops Suit Against Her Parents

Rachel Canning has been home for a week now
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 18, 2014 3:24 PM CDT
Jersey Teen Drops Suit Against Her Parents
Rachel Canning looks on during a hearing at the Morris County Courthouse on March 4.   (AP Photo/The Star-Ledger, John O'Boyle, Pool)

One of the strangest lawsuits of the year so far is no more. The New Jersey 18-year-old who moved out of her parents' home and then sued them for financial support has dropped her suit, reports the Star-Ledger. A judge today agreed to the dismissal after deciding that Rachel Canning had made a "knowing and voluntary decision." He also said raising teenagers can be tough and urged both sides to "look forward and not back." Today's move wasn't a huge surprise given that Canning had moved back home a week ago, but the litigation was still in limbo at that point.

The family asked for privacy in a statement and said "some level of normalcy" had returned to their lives. The drama began when Canning moved into a friend's home amid worsening relations with her parents and sued them for "constructive abandonment" last month, recounts the Daily Record. (Her friend's father, a lawyer, gave her the money to do so.) Canning wanted her parents to pay her remaining high school tuition and college costs after that. "The case is over," says her parents' attorney. "It's time to move on." (More Rachel Canning stories.)

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