An American man who won an $80million lottery while getting divorced has been told he must give half in settlement to his estranged wife....
An American man who won an $80million lottery while getting divorced has been told he must give half in settlement to his estranged wife.
Richard Zelasko from Michigan must give his estranged wife, Mary Elizabeth, half of the money he received because an arbitrator handling their divorce deems it marital property.
The Daily Mail reports that the couple, who have three children together were married between 2004 and September 2011, when Mary Elizabeth filed for divorce.
In 2013, while they were negotiating it, Richard won an $80million Mega Millions lottery. After taxes and fees, he walked away with a lump sum of more than $38million.
In his decision, arbitrator John Mills said that while it was his first winning ticket, it was probably not the first ticket Richard bought during their marriage, often using their shared money to get it.
'As losses throughout the marriage were incurred jointly, so should winnings be shared jointly,' he said.
'It’s true that defendant spent $1.00 to purchase the winning lottery ticket, however, the dollar spent was arguably marital money and, as such, a joint investment,' he added.
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