A marriage becomes a business transaction after a divorce. 

 "Their divorce wasn't final until 2018." They separated in 2011.

 I hope that they will become friends again who can celebrate their win.

So the former Mrs and uncle Sam get their share. 

I suppose she sleeps with her greed better when it's covered in cash. Next she'll want spousal support. 

He did agree to a third party to negotiate the divorce terms. So sounds like he has some sensibility.

Lol. Simple case. They were still married, not divorced. It has nothing to do with greed.  Of course, we all recall the bum who was supported by his ex wife for years. When he won, she asked for nothing and she was still paying spousal support.

It is only fair IMHO.   Just like the military where a Colorado Senator I believe had legislation passed that if you are married for greater than 10 years in the military and divorce, he or she automatically forfeits 50% of their retirement.

Now LP members, especially you legal types, had Michigan been an anonymous state, do you think he could have pulled a fast one and got away with the whole kit and caboodle? 

I guess he didn't have one:

A Legal Separation: Legally create a space between you and your spouse. You live separately. Your Finances are Separated. Child custody, child support, division of marital assets and debts, and spousal support (called alimony if you divorce) are all ordered by the court.

Sucks for him,  a win for her.  Money is the root of all evils.  In the end, technically it doesn't matter.  Then again not my business.

Rich had options. He could have stopped playing the lottery after his separation or he could have broomed Mary permanently.

NO!

wander73, It is, "The love of money ..."

 I do not think that money is good or bad. It is paper, digits. 

 Law Enforcement follows the trail of the money in a crime scene. "Follow the money"

 Corruption and corrupt officials are usually discovered by following the money.

No. I think the lottery officials must have claiming forms which includes marital status.  They likely have an IRS contact since they withhold a certain percentage so they must know info for any claimant. Your marital status is not private info so it can be shared between state entities.  They probably ask about back child support, etc.

15 million before taxes isn't too bad.  Every hot blond in Michigan will be hunting that guy down.  LOL

Yes. In certain states you are either married or a dissolution has been rendered. There is no acknowledgement for "legal separation". 

Totally understand that Michigan is of the former. 

Doesn't mean.she HAD to go after his win. She sure as honey wouldn't be accountable for his debts during the separate residency. 

I would have signed a waiver not to claim. But that's just me. I tend to not piggyback  off another's luck.

Ohio might be an anonymous claiming state but their lottery's claim form asks if the winners if they defaulted on child or spousal support.

I am / am not (circle one) in default of an administrative or court order in Ohio requiring the payment of child or spousal support (Knowingly making a false affirmation regarding default under a child or spousal support order is a criminal offense under Revised Code section 3770.99(B)).

The Michigan claims form only mentions IRS obligations. And Zelasko agreed to arbitration and the arbitrator called it marital property.

Property is property regardless of the luck factor.

So, in a reverse situation with you winning a jp, you would have expected your separated spouse to waive his share?

law.justia.com/cases/michigan/court-of-appeals-unpublished/2015/324514.html

This will give you a bit more info on the divorce proceedings Between Dick and Mary Zelasko

I'm not surprised. They weren't officially divorced, therefore the winnings were part of the marital assets to be divided up.  They could have saved a pile of money on lawyer fees if they'd just accepted that. Divided in two, that amount of money is plenty to live on very comfortably if you're wise. I can't see how the case could have gone any other way.  Even if he was officially divorced, the wife would probably sue for increased child support and likely win.

"had Michigan been an anonymous state, do you think he could have pulled a fast one"

It's been tried before. Maybe somebody has gotten away with it, but in at least one case it backfired badly with a judge awarding the entire prize to the ex-spouse.

There's absolutely no reason that the claim form needs to inquire about marital status, and it doesn't. The lottery needs to know your taxpayer ID number, but other than withholding and remitting funds to the IRS they're not involved in your taxes so your filing status, which isn't set in stone anyway, is irrelevant. Unless the lottery is made aware of disputes over ownership they'll just pay the prize to the person who claims ownership of the ticket and submits the claim form. If the lottery doesn't announce the winner's name anyone else who might have a claim to the money isn't going to find out about it that way.

Of course as anyone who pays attention around here should know it's often the winners themselves rather than the official publicity that gets them into trouble, and there are plenty of ways the not-quite ex might find out about the winnings. Assuming the parties have retained legal counsel the winner will be filing financial disclosures. If they file an accurate disclosure they'll be the ones that notify the other party about the lottery prize because it's one of their assets. If they don't disclose it they'll be committing perjury and fraud. And of course there's your tax return. Even if the divorce is final by the end of the year and you file as a single person you're adding to the paper trail that can come back and bite you in the ass.

There's a small chance that there's one loophole, but I wouldn't be optimistic. The IRS says that you don't have the economic benefit of the prize until sometime after you've submitted the claim. That means you can win in one year, then claim the prize and pay the taxes in the following year (as long as the claim period runs past 12/31). While the IRS is only concerned with when the taxes are due the same reasoning offers an argument that the ticket has no significant value until the lottery says it does. If you waited until the divorce was final you could argue that the asset was only worth a few bucks at the time you disclosed your assets. I wouldn't expect that argument to work, but it's a much safer strategy than not disclosing that you've won.

She earned 3 times as much income as he did during their marriage.  From the justia link supplied by CDanaT:  "Plaintiff [Mary] worked as a sales associate earning between $100,000 and $120,000 annually.  Defendant [Richard] owned his own business and earned approximately $36,000 annually."

Richard sounds like a real loser.  His wife supported his lifestyle during their marriage.  After winning the lottery, he refused to give any money for support of his children.  And most poetically, he was the idiot dragging out the divorce and fighting over everything instead of getting it over with quickly (Michigan is a no-fault state; divorce can be had in as little as 2 months if no children, 6 months with children.)  It sounds like he got more than what he deserved since he gets to keep more than half the jackpot.

All state lotteries provide financial forms that ask for your marital status. These documents are provided for tax purposes. Most if not all also ask who gets your money if  you die before it hits your account. That is why one notes on the form...in accordance with my estate plans, assuming you have estate plans. If not, you have to note a designated beneficiary. This is standard operating procedure for any unusually large financial transaction, lottery related or not.

It’s Michigan, he’ll just win again because it’s way too easy to win lotteries there.

You might be right because I hit their pick-4 straight a few years ago and the claims form I filled out is almost the same.