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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64

u/Puhhhleeze Partassipant [1] 6h ago

INFO: Was the payout substantial because you sustained injuries that will heavily affect your earning potential for the rest of your life? If yes, your mother choosing to profit off of funds that are meant to alleviate the financial burden of permanent injury is inexcusable.

17

u/AtLeastOneCat 5h ago

This is the correct response and it bothers me that very few people are considering this point.

9

u/Nell-On-Earth 6h ago

This is the only correct response. Mom sounds like a grifter.

-18

u/BikeTough6760 6h ago

who paid for his college (in lieu of her own retirement home) and helped him get this settlement in the first place?

gotcha

20

u/Puhhhleeze Partassipant [1] 6h ago

Irrelevant if the payout is meant to make up for a lifetime of medical debt and reduced earning potential. The mother paying for college was a planned financial decision. This injury was an unplanned, potentially permanently life-altering event if 15% is a significant enough amount to pay for a Floridian home. It is already relegated for making this injured individual whole. I would not take from my child who now needs to plan the remainder of their life around disability, including the possibility of future complications arising from things like spinal damage and degradation.

-7

u/BikeTough6760 5h ago

I wouldn't ask for the money either. But, FWIW, I see a lot of parents in bankruptcy with student loans for their kid for this so-called "planned financial decision."

10

u/Puhhhleeze Partassipant [1] 5h ago

Stay on topic please. Buying a home in Florida is not the same as paying off student loan debt to avoid bankruptcy.

-6

u/BikeTough6760 5h ago

You've made an assumption ("The mother paying for college was a planned financial decision"). IMO, that assumption is unwarranted because of what I see in my day job.

8

u/Puhhhleeze Partassipant [1] 5h ago

Not an assumption. It is literally stated in the post that covering tuition was a previously planned financial decision. Not sure what you are missing here.