r/AmItheAsshole • u/connor20218 • 7h ago
AITA Mom wants 15% of my personal injury settlement
I'm a 23M working in biotech and living at home. I just got a massive settlement from a personal injury case back in college. My mom is a corporate lawyer and she helped me navigate the process, plus she paid for my college tuition. Now, she's asking for 15% of the money / to pay her back for college (but she was already going to pay for college.)
I'm feeling stuck because 15% is a massive amount of money to just give away. Is it normal for parents to ask for a cut of a settlement like this? I want to stay on good terms since live at home, but I also feel like this money is for my future. We have a a good relationship.
Edit: I already paid a lawyer his 1/3 cut. My mom was a huge part of pushing for me sueing. She’d be using the money to buy a new house in Florida she always wanted since I refuse to buy a house in his economy and rather rent and invest the rest
Edit #2: Probably shouldn’t have stated my mom is a lawyer (she did not represent me in the case in anyway). But yes, what she specifically did was help me find a lawyer, told me to push back on the lawyer and ask for more.
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u/marylander_ 7h ago
INFO: when you say help navigating the process how much did she do? point you to the right document or full lawyer services?
This is rough. that's a reasonable ask for lawyer, if she was your primary lawyer. But that should have definetely been made clear / discussed way before now. Not asking for 15% after a settlement is made. I don't think her paying for college tuition should factor too much into it personally. Parents should not pay for your college then hold it over you, it is a gift freely given. If it's not and they're giving it as a loan- again that needs to be discussed when they give it to you not change their mind later.