<p>I actually ran into a similar situation…well, it was more along the lines of my parents not being able to afford to help me and myself not willing to go into debt when I wasn’t sure what I wanted to study. Military is actually a pretty good option. The GI bill is very good, and if you join the national guard, a lot of states will give you a lot of help with tuition while you serve.</p>
<p>Some of my kids were enough to make a saint swear at times and if they were dumb enough to move out of the house during some of the fights that rocked this place, I think they would have just had to have stayed out for a while. They were smart enough to sense that. It’s not that easy to throw out someone entrenched in your home without cause. I know that because I’ve thought about doing it many times. With 5 kids and many friends with young adults, I 've seen it all. </p>
<p>Unless you were facing outright danger, your friend’s parents had no business giving you the money to move out. Now you are in limbo. You are not homeless. You are out of the your dad’s house on your own volition. You don’t have a leg to stand on. </p>
<p>Something happened that got your dad upset. You were living with him, applying to colleges–what were your options when the college letters came out? When you were applying to colleges? What was going on with your counselor? </p>
<p>It does matter in terms of this thread. If you moved out to show them…well, you failed. You are an adult in the eyes of the law in that you are responsible for yourself, and a child in that colleges will take your parents finances and cooperation into account before giving you aid. Too bad you did not check all of this out before making your move.</p>
<p>Your best option is to move back in with your dad and step mom, stay out of their way, and use the money your are earning to pay your way through any of the CUNYs or SUNYs local to you. You’ll have a full grand or so a month more for spending once you do that. Your transportation allotment ends in June when you are no longer in high school and you will have your expenses to pay in addition to school costs the way you are right now.</p>
<p>Earthsister, Do you attend a public or private school? I don’t know of many NYC families with $600K incomes whose kids attend the local public.</p>
<p>Your father is a total spineless wus and I completely blame your step mom. Sorry you lost your mom. This pattern seems to repeat itself over and over, men get remarried and somehow forget their responsibilities to their offspring. Your step mom would have to be in your corner with this type of guy and she obviously is not. No way to win this if she doesn’t have your back. You should have been receiving SS survivors benefits if your mom ever worked. Unfortunately, it now only go until age 18. Your sorry dad’s excuse that he paid his way might be legit, but college costs have skyrocketed since his day. People making far less are doing all they can to help their kids. You are right they are selfish deadbeats. Not all parents step or otherwise behave this way. Even if you did something to make them mad, they are the adults and still have a moral obligation to try to help you.</p>
<p>Since you, the child, lives in NYS, you can sue your dad for child support, but go back home ASAP:</p>
<p>"Until What Age Is a Parent Obligated to Support a Child?</p>
<p>In New York State, a child is entitled to be supported by his or her parents until the age of 21. However, if the child is under 21 years of age, and is married, or self-supporting, or in the military, the child is considered to be “emancipated” and the parents’ support obligation ends.</p>
<p>A child may also be considered “emancipated” if he or she is between 17 and 21, leaves the parents’ home and refuses to obey the parents’ reasonable commands.</p>
<p>Who May File a Petition for Child Support?</p>
<p>A child who is not emancipated and is living away from both parents may file a petition against his or her parents asking for an order of support to be paid to the child."</p>
<p>Ana, you want this minor to sue her father, a NYC <em>lawyer</em> who earns half a million a year? Even if the dad is not a family law attorney, I am sure the dad can find someone in his firm who knows family law enough to handle the case of a legal adult who left the house of his/her own free will. It would probably be dismissed. </p>
<p>Plus, if dad is paying private school tuition, I’m not sure it can be argued that he’s not supporting this kid-- which is why I asked: OP, do you attend ps or private school?</p>
<p>But the parent has a legal obligation to support the child until he/she is 21 in NYS, and it is a tuition add on state which means that the parent, if he can afford it then has to pay for education equivalent to the one he/she received.If dad went to ivy, he is obligated to pay for ivy. The OP can just go to DSS and they will help to go after dad. I do think there are other issues in this story that we have not heard about.</p>
<p>I was not sure because the mom was divorced, but in NYS there is a specific statute that states it is like the domestic relations statutes and specifically states parental obligations. In NYS child support is 17% of parents income until the child is 21.</p>
<p>"Family Court Act 413
Parents’ duty to support child.
- (a) Except as provided in subdivision two of this section, the parents of a child under the age of twenty-one years are chargeable with the support of such child and, if possessed of sufficient means or able to earn such means, shall be required to pay for child support a fair and reasonable sum as the court may determine."</p>
<p>I go to a public high school, though my little brother is in kindergarten and attends a private school. </p>
<p>Wait, I’m confused. So you guys are saying I should try and move back in, then what? Couldn’t they just kick me out in July when I turn 18?</p>
<p>Or are you guys suggesting I stay on my own and sue for child support? Which if it’s 17% of their income will be more than enough to pay for college it seems. </p>
<p>Does anyone know of somewhere I might be able to seek out free legal aid?</p>
<p>^I think Ana’s point was that you’re jeopardizing your ability to sue for support right now by living on your own, because you will be classified as “emancipated” and ergo not eligible for mandated support.</p>
<p>Sorry your your situation OP. Have you considered a college where you work for your tuition? College of the Ozarks and Berea College come to mind. I am sure there are more like these two, both of which I believe have religious affiliations but I have heard good things about both.</p>
<p>Sorry you have to go through this. Do you have any relatives who could help you with this? Any on your mom’s side?</p>
<p>Doesn’t child support relate more to a divorce situation than this situation? And the child support till 21, I have a friend with a special needs child and the dad has to pay child support until the child turns 21 or graduates high school (he can stay in high school till he is 21). </p>
<p>Admittedly not in New York. But I am dubious about whether it is possible to sue in this situation.</p>
<p>Ana, I know of someone who sued for college tuition successfully in NY state. However, it was a divorce situation. I’m really not sure it applies to the OP and I do think an attorney at the level of her dad will have the resources to successfully defend himself against overworked DSS attorneys or legal aid at a non-profit. </p>
<p>OP, I suspect there is more to this story and there were problems and an argument that came first. Do you think you can win your dad over? </p>
<p>If not and this is truly irreparable, are there any sane relatives with whom you can stay? You could live there, work and attend a local college. I realize that right now, you have the CUNYs close by but it might make more sense to live with a relative than on your own at 18yo. </p>
<p>If that’s not an option, a work college is a great idea as is the military, if you are interested in serving the country.</p>
<p>Ana, you seem to often advise kids to sue their parents. First, the chance that this could be heard in the courts in a timely manner for kids to attend school is slim. Next, why would you want to see kids have this kind of contentious relationship with family?</p>
<p>Many parents are not willing or able to pay for their children’s choice of college. Most kids go to community college to start.</p>
<p>While it’s unfortunate parents with a $600K income choose not to pay for college, that’s life. I encourage the OP to work her way through college like most kids and just figure she didn’t luck out in the parent category.</p>
<p>Ana is correct. In the state of NY, parent has a legal obligation to provide child support including medical benefits up until the age of 21. The courts will even consider an upward modification to include college expenses.</p>
<p>Since Op is in Brooklyn, she should contact the Brooklyn Bar Association for free/low cost legal help in getting child support</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.brooklynbar.org/lrs/family-law/?gclid=CJDiuOj9y68CFQjd4AodQTReYQ[/url]”>https://www.brooklynbar.org/lrs/family-law/?gclid=CJDiuOj9y68CFQjd4AodQTReYQ</a></p>
<p>You can also go to the Brooklyn Family Court (on Adams Street) and speak with the people in the support collection unit who will advise you on what you need to do in order to file a child support claim.</p>
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<p>First, Ana1, as the OP has stated repeatedly, her parents were not divorced; they were never married. Second, unless you are an attorney licensed to practice in New York State, please do not give advice to this teenager regarding her legal rights. The law you cited pertains to domestic relation actions - involving a support obligation between parents.</p>
<p>It may or may not be the case that the OP may be able to recover something from her father for his refusal to support her beyond the age of 18, but that is something she needs to determine from a New York attorney before she takes the drastic action of moving back into her father’s home.</p>
<p>In the meantime, it seems her best course of action would be to see if she can make a claim to any as yet unpaid Social Security death benefits. It may not be much, but it’s better than nothing.</p>
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Maybe the thought of looking like a total cheapskate ****** to the whole world might make the Dad think twice about fighting it in court. (Not that I am in favor of suing family members, hard to repair a relationship after that).</p>
<p>“Ana, you seem to often advise kids to sue their parents. First, the chance that this could be heard in the courts in a timely manner for kids to attend school is slim. Next, why would you want to see kids have this kind of contentious relationship with family?”</p>
<p>I do not advice anyone to sue their parent. I just present the law. There is a legal obligation to support the child, whether the parent likes it or not. In case of a custodian parent who is unwilling to ask for child support, then the child has the right to get it so e/she would live in the same lifestyle that the NCP lives. If a parent has kicked the child out of the house and says that he/she would not support the child after 18yrs old, well the law says otherwise, and if the parent is well off, then the responsibilities to support is even greater. We do not know the full story here, but the child is entitled to $85K annually until the 21st birthday. Since he/she is the oldest child, the existence of the younger child is not taken under consideration in determining support. Especially if the father does not want to support/pay for college, why should not the child go after the father to get tuition? After all, all FA offices state that bio parents have responsibility to pay for the tuition. If the mother was alive, then the child could hide behind that parent to ask for child support. Clearly the NYS legislators believe that any parent has the obligation to support the child and they enacted it as a separate statute that is identical to the domestic relations one. So if my father is wealthy but has a new family and decides not to support me, then I should go to a CC because any other school will determine that the parent can pay in full?</p>
<p>dodgersmom, I am not an attorney and I do not give legal advice. I just pasted the statute so the OP can read it. This particular statute is not about divorced parents. It is about parental obligation and it states so on the chapter title of the statute and that it is identical to the domestic relations statute. Any resident has the right to read the statute and provide that information as a general knowledge. If I was just telling the op to do that, then it would be legal advice. I am copying the pertinent part of the legislative statute so the OP can read it and then I stated that he/she can contact DSS for legal help. I also said that we do not know the full story.</p>
<p>But the child wasn’t kicked out. The child left willingly.</p>