A 21-year-old student has successfully sued her estranged parents for $16,000 college tuition even though she has not spoken to them in more than a year - and they are refusing to pay.

Caitlyn Ricci and her parents Maura McGarvey and Michael Ricci, who are divorced, headed back to court in Camden, New Jersey on Monday, where a judge upheld his earlier ruling that they should pay towards her education at Temple University.

But while they agreed to pay $906 for her community college costs, they said they will not pay a single cent of the $16,000 until Caitlyn tries to have a relationship with them.

After they previously refused to pay, Caitlyn sued them for contempt of court.

'That's fine, they can hold me in contempt of court,' her father told ABC6 after this week's hearing. 'They can do whatever they want. I'm not going to pay. I'm not going to give them any money until my daughter has a relationship with me and we start to heal our family.'

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Back in court: Caitlyn Ricci, who has sued her parents for her college tuition, returned to court this week (pictured) after they failed to pay up. Her grandfather, left, paid for her to sue her parents

Hurt: Maura McGarvey and Michael Ricci, pictured left, say their daughter only wants their money

Caitlyn left home in February 2013.

McGarvey told the court that her daughter left after refusing to do chores and follow a curfew, which they enforced after she repeatedly got in trouble for underage drinking.

But Caitlyn said she moved partly because of a dispute about taking a summer class.

McGarvey explained they had enforced the summer class as punishment for Caitlyn getting kicked out of the Disney College Program - paid for by her and her ex-husband - for underage drinking.

She moved in with her paternal grandparents in Cherry Hills, New Jersey and, despite their fallout, Maura said she tried to reach out to Caitlyn - sending her letters and writing her poems - but she never heard back.

The parents claim she also purchased a car when she left the family home and subsequently demanded the money through her lawyers.

Refusal: The parents, who divorced when Caitlyn was a toddler, said they will not pay until she attempts to have a relationship with them. She moved out of her mother's home nearly two years ago

Fallout: Caitlyn, a student at Temple University, says she left home after a dispute about summer classes, but her mother said they argued about chores and curfews set after Caitlyn was caught drinking

They eventually tried to file for an emancipation but the day before Mothers' Day last year, papers from Caitlyn's attorneys arrived at their home.

The girl's grandparents - who have not spoken to their son in years - paid for her to get a lawyer to sue her parents.

I'm not going to give them any money until my daughter has a relationship with me and we start to heal our family Michael Ricci

She sued them for her county college tuition in Pennsylvania in August 2013, then in October, she sued them for the tuition money for Temple. A judge ruled in her favor.

'I love that child more than anything,' McGarvey, 42, said in court this week. 'But she only wants the money.'

Her daughter countered: 'It's not about the money. I want to go to college.'

Caitlyn's mother fell pregnant with her while she was still at college and worked full time while also attending classes to care for her.

She divorced Michael Ricci in 1997 and they have both remarried and have younger children. But they have maintained a good relationship and regularly chipped in so that Caitlyn could get the best, Maura claimed in online posts.

McGarvey, an English teacher, and Michael Ricci, a high school basketball coach, have agreed to pay the county college tuition by January 1 but say they can't afford her out-of-state college tuition.

Happier times: Both of Caitlyn's parents have remarried and have younger children

The couple say that their daughter, whom they have not spoken with in more than a year, did not apply for eligible loans and scholarships, but the student's attorney said she is has paid some of the $26,000 bill at Temple with financial aid.

The couple are raising funds for their appeal through a GoFundme account.

Caitlyn Ricci's attorney told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the parents' combined household income was more than $272,000 a year.

'Caitlyn really is a good girl,' attorney Andrew Rochester said. 'She is the nicest, sweetest girl. All she wants is to go to college.'

The girl's grandfather said if his son and his ex-wife do not pay up, he believes they should go to jail.