A New Jersey court ruled in favor of a young woman who sued her parents to pay for her college tuition. The biological parents of 21-year-old Caitlyn Ricci will now be forced to pay $16,000 each year so their daughter can continue attending Temple University in Pennsylvania.

According to Ricci's mother, Maura McGarvey, they are planning to appeal the judge's decision and were shocked that her own daughter sued her.

"Of course, it's not anything you ever imagine," she said. "I feel like I tried very hard to raise my child right."

McGarvey said that she discovered Ricci was suing her and her ex-husband in May 2013. The two parents had already filed a motion to emancipate their daughter.

Ricci's parents were married for just two-and a-half years. She spent time between both households but lived with her mother.

"She comes from two loving families, and she was given what she wanted when she was growing up," Michael Ricci, Caitlyn's father, said.

Her mother described Caitlyn as a teen who often rebelled against household rules, eventually moving in with her paternal grandparents in February 2013. McGarvey said the only time she had seen her daughter since beginning college was in the courtroom.

"She packed up her stuff and moved in with my ex-in-laws," McGarvey said.

However, while her mother said her daughter chose to leave home, Caitlyn's attorney, Andrew Rochester, said her parents were to blame for his client moving out.

"Caitlyn did not voluntarily leave the home. She was thrown out by her mother," he said, according to ABC News. "Caitlyn really is a good girl. She is the nicest, sweetest girl. ... All she wants is to go to college."

A judge in Camden County court said divorced parents may be required to contribute to their child's educational costs. Ricci's grandparents are reportedly paying her legal fees.