Boy who "divorced" murder father gets $15,000 from mother's estate

[RedEarth]

SANDOWN, N.H. A New Hampshire boy who "divorced" his father will get 15-thousand dollars from his mother's estate -- but he won't get her cremated remains.

Patrick Holland was eight when his father, Daniel Holland, shot and killed his estranged wife in their Quincy home.

Two years ago, Patrick won a groundbreaking legal battle to terminate his father's parental rights. Since then, his adoptive father has been fighting in court with Patrick's grandfather for Liz Holland's ashes and an accounting of her estate.

Under the settlement, Patrick got the proceeds of the sale of the house in Quincy and some of his mother's jewelry and photos. His grandfather, Robert McCrocklin, also agreed to resign as administrator of the estate.

http://www.wpri.com/Global/story.asp?S=4403630&nav=F2DO

[aquart]

1. $15,000 for a HOUSE?

A one room shack goes for more.

[MercutioATC]

2. Ever hear of attorney's fees?

I'll bet the fight cost him a bundle.

[pitohui]

4. oh yeah

my friend signed an agreement to pay his attorney 40 percent of what he won if the case went to court, case went to court, jury awarded $130K, somehow my friend only gets $60K of that, funny kind of 40 percent -- and he ain't even got that months later, the attorney always has some excuse for why the money is in transit

you don't really make money by suing people, all you can do is cause financial harm to the jerk you are suing

[MrMonk]

5. Lousy attorney.

Most states (maybe all?) limit contingency fees to 30% of the total award. Many of those have sliding-scale fees where the maximum allowable percentage decreases as the size of the award increases. I don't know whether 3rd-party charges (e.g., expert witnesses) are paid out of such fees.

Plus, the attorney appears to be f-ing around with a client's money. That should get him disbarred, or, at the very least, sanctioned, in any state. I'm told that review boards are very unforgiving about such things.

[seriousstan]

3. The $15,000 was the profit from the sale.

I can sell a home I bought for $500,000 for $515,000 and make $15,000 profit. It says nothing about the value of the house.