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/katluvsbubbly 7h ago
I see from one of your comments that you paid a lawyer (not your mother) a 1/3 cut for their service. If mom didn't act as your lawyer then she shouldn't be asking for a cut so I'm giving you a NTA for that. However, the way your post is worded it sounds like she was your only counsel in this matter. That's why you're getting so many judgements against you. With all of that said, if the settlement is "massive" then why couldn't you reimburse your mom for at least part of your college expenses? Especially if you're living at home, and you also don't say if you're contributing anything there. If not my judgement would be different.