A woman had to give away her million lottery win to her ex-husband in a shock twist and the reason is diabolical.
This is a warning to everyone who could potentially win big while married.
Denise Rossi won her £1 million lottery jackpot ($1.3 million) and ultimately decided to divorce her husband of 25 years less than two weeks afterwards.
Talk about a wakeup call.
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The woman, from California, USA, was happy to win her cash prize money, but decided to do something unexpected.
She chose to keep the news of her big win from her partner.
When her ex-hubby, Thomas discovered her lotto win years after their divorce in 1996, after finding a letter from a company that gave out the payouts to lottery winners, he decided to take things further.
As he had found the letter which went on to describe information about the winnings, and shared how the company had 'helped hundreds of lottery winners like you around the country receive a lump-sum payment for the present value of their future annual lottery payments', he knew he had grounds to contest the money, and his right to a slice of the proverbial pie.
He took the matter to court, with proceedings revealing that Denise has actually mailed the original winnings cheque to her mum's house, keeping it away from Thomas.
She was asked why she filed for divorce so quickly after she won the big prize, as she revealed that it was a convenient exit from the marriage, having looked for a way out for 'several years'.
Speaking to People Magazine, Thomas revealed that he was 'confused' and 'blindsided' by the incident, saying: "She wanted me to move out of the house very fast. It wasn't like her to act this way."
The judge eventually ordered Denise to pay her 65-year-old ex-husband, 20 annual payments worth $66,800 (£52,600) each, which totalled the value of her entire winnings.
Connolly Oyler, Denise's lawyer, stated that she may have been able to keep the winnings if she was honest about them.
He explained: "I could have argued successfully that it was her separate property. Or we could have argued and we would have reached some adjustment. But the judge got mad and gave it all to him."
This isn't the first time lottery winnings have broken a family up, though, with a 92-year-old father choosing to take his daughter to court in Australia after accusing her of 'coercing' him into giving her some of his winnings.
It does seem like the lottery can bring about a number of problems, whether that be with your family, or you know, actually collecting it.
The National Lottery revealed to LADbible that a Powerball winner from last year still hasn't collected their £500,000 prize - so it may be worth checking old tickets and looking at the official website to see if it could be you.
If it’s me - it’s been nice knowing all of you lot in my life, but I’m off to live in a sunnier climate and I can’t take you with me.
Topics: Money, US News, National Lottery
Britt Jones