Can you imagine playing the lotto and actually winning a top prize? Many can, and that’s the draw that state and national lotteries have across the country. Although the odds may be against you, there are grand prize winners, fairly frequently. A Midwest man recently bought a ticket to a state lottery and won over $30 million.
However, he was separated from his wife at the time and going through a divorce. In the proceedings, she contested that the ticket winnings were marital property while he contended that it was his luck that won the money and thus should not be considered marital property. However, the man didn’t luck out this time as he was ordered to split the lottery jackpot with his estranged wife in the divorce.
Talk about a high asset divorce! Marital property is generally considered to be things accumulated during the marriage, so in theory, a lottery ticket winning wouldn’t be outstanding of that. The fact that the husband and wife had been separated for quite some time didn’t seem to help the man’s case for keeping the winnings to himself.
Splitting lottery winnings is probably slightly easier to do than to split 401(k) accounts, savings or the proceeds of selling the family home. However, it can be tough to deal with property division anyway you look at it as it can seem like an all-or-none game. However, there is a way to come to a fair and equitable division, whatever the assets. Experienced legal assistance can be of great help to people in these situations.