The lawsuit filed by Rachel Canning, an 18-year-old cheerleader, is set to be heard today in New Jersey.

Rachel Canning said in court documents her parents abandoned her when she turned 18 and refused to fund her education even if she had been accepted at various universities.

Her father, Sean, said his daughter voluntarily left home in October because she did not want to abide by reasonable household rules, such as being respectful, keeping a curfew and doing some chores.

Miss Canning has been staying with a friend

"We love our child and miss her. This is terrible. It's killing me and my wife. We have a child we want home," Mr Canning told the local newspaper The Daily Record of Parsippany.

"We're not draconian and now we're getting hauled into court. She's demanding that we pay her bills but she doesn't want to live at home and she's saying, ‘I don't want to live under your rules.'"

Mr Canning added: "We're heartbroken, but what do you do when a child says, 'I don't want your rules but I want everything under the sun and you to pay for it?'"

He also said she is a "good kid" but "an incredibly rebellious teen" who has been getting bad advice.

The teenager has been living with the family of her best friend.

The newspaper reported that the friend's father, former Morris County Freeholder John Inglesino, is funding the lawsuit.

In New Jersey, the fact that a child has turned 18 does not automatically mean they are legally emancipated and is not an automatic reason to stop financial support, the newspaper said.