A court will have the final say over how Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock’s multi-million dollar estate will be divided up among his victims.
Attorneys are due in court on Friday to argue over who should handle Paddock’s estimated $5million, comprised of both his gambling takes and real estate profits, and who will be able to claim portions of it.
Craig Eiland, an attorney representing several of Paddock’s shooting victims, filed paperwork asking for an independent probate court to handle the money in a ‘constructive trust.’
The court will decide how Las Vegas shooter Stephen Paddock’s estimated $5million estate will be distributed and who will be in charge of it
The Las Vegas Victims’ Fund is set to discuss how the more than $14million raised will be dispersed to victims of the shooting and what priority level claims will be assigned. Paddock staged the mass shooting out of a room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay hotel
‘I’d like to get the estate, all of the estate, for just my clients. But that’s just not the right thing to do,’ Eiland told Las Vegas Now, noting that he wants to make sure that all the victims have access to the funds and that ‘it’s an open and transparent process.’
Paddock’s family has already said that they would like his $5million estate to be distributed among the victims and families of October’s mass shooting and their lawyer is seeking to be the one who controls how the funds are dispersed.
In a joint statement made by multiple lawyers representing the victims, Eiland noted that the Paddock family lawyer also represents one shooting victim’s father, which is an ‘over the top’ conflict of interest, which is why he and the other lawyers are requesting a third party handle the funds.
FIfty eight people died and more than 540 people were injured at an outdoor concert when Stephen Paddock opened fire on them from above
An attorney representing multiple Vegas shooting victims believes a third party probate court should be put in charge of distributing Paddock’s estate funds and who should receive money
Fifty eight people died and more than 540 people were injured at an open-air concert died after Paddock opened fire on them on October 1.
Also due to be discussed in coming days during town halls is the application process for dispensing money to the shooting victims and their families from the Las Vegas Victims’ Fund.
The fund already has more than $14million in donations via a GoFundMe campaign, the National Compassion Fund and a Nevada State Bank account, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
According to a draft protocol for doling out the donations, the Victim’s Fund is aiming to prioritize individual claims involving victims who died, suffered permanent brain damage or paralysis, KVVU reported.
They would ‘receive the highest level of payment,’ according to the draft.
The next claims category would be for those who suffered physical injuries that required hospitalization, following by those who were injured and admitted to the hospital within two days of the October 1 shooting.