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The Lotto Case I represented a
woman in her divorce several years ago. She had recently won the Super Lotto
jackpot, but she neglected to mention this to her husband. She also forgot to
inform me of these lottery winnings during the divorce proceedings, and my
office routinely settled the case with her husband. A few years later,
her ex-husband found out about the jackpot and his attorney went back to
court. He sought to have the lottery winnings transferred to the ex-husband because
the wife failed to disclose them. A no-nonsense judge presided, and granted
his request! This case is
especially frustrating because if the wife disclosed her winnings during the
case, she had several arguments supporting a decision that the winnings
belonged to her as her separate property. The couple was legally separated at
the time of the drawing (although still living together), and property acquired
after the separation date is generally considered to be separate property. The
lottery ticket was actually a gift from a co-worker, and gifts are considered
separate property! Either of these two
arguments were grounds for a determination that the winnings were her
separate property at the time of the divorce. But because she failed to
disclose the winnings, the judge had the authority to give it all to the
ex-husband in the post-judgment proceedings- a difficult time to learn a hard
lesson. Both community and
separated property must be fully disclosed to the other's spouse prior to the
entry of judgment of divorce. |
Attorneys at Law: |
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