Connecticut Lottery: Court: Ex-Husband Can Share Lottery Jackpot
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Monday that the ex-husband of a $7 million lottery winner deserves to share her fortune.
The high court's 5-0 ruling upheld a lower court order that Pamela Noyes-Dombrowski pay Eugene M. Dombrowski alimony after the dissolution of their nearly 14-year marriage.
In 1992, after years of spending a few dollars each week playing the lottery, despite opposition from her husband, Noyes-Dombrowski hit the jackpot for $7 million. She opted to receive the winnings in annual installments of about $384,680 over a twenty year period.
During their divorce in 2003, a judge awarded Eugene Dombrowski half of his ex-wife's future lottery payments, minus his salary, as alimony.
The high court found the judge in the divorce case was within his discretion in determining that the lottery winnings could be considered salary.
Noyes-Dombroski challenged the award, based it part on comments by the judge who said "if this were a situation where the husband had the money ... there would be absolutely no argument that the wife would get a share of the windfall."
Justice Flemming L. Norcott Jr., who wrote the opinion, said while trial judge's comment might have been imprudent, there is no evidence that it influenced the court's division of the proceeds.