18-year old sues parents to pay for college, among other things.

It's the age-old American drama, you know how it goes.

Mom and Dad live in idyllic suburban hamlet outside New York City. Dad's big time in town. Former cop, current local politician, a man with a name at the local coffee shop, etc. He and the wife lavish their daughter with money, gifts, cars, trips. The daughter can do no wrong. Cheerleader, athlete, honor student, check, check, check.

Then the daughter meets a guy in school, falls in love, and starts rebelling. She breaks rules. She breaks curfew. She breaks hearts. Dad disapproves, becomes strict and demands respect. Dad and daughter bicker. Mom joins in the fray, too. Mom and Dad bicker with the daughter. The boyfriend remains in the picture. The daughter is driven away. Dad cuts off the money supply. Daughter sues.

Suing might be off-script, albeit slightly. But why is this case any different than any other? Mainly that the daughter, Rachel Canning, is suing her parents as an 18-year old, and she wants them to pay for her lifestyle still. Oh, and pay for her high school and college tuition, too.

Children have sued to divorce their parents before--but that's not what Canning is attempting to do, which is what has experts curious. Canning isn't looking for a divorce, just emancipation with financial assistance, but she's doing this as an 18-year old, an age viewed as an adult by most cultures--and that's new territory in American law, because there's no legal groundwork in that area.

What's not new territory? Dad hating your boyfriend.