Take a barber, a handyman and the handyman's sister, add one lottery ticket and $32 million, and what do you have? A lawsuit and siblings no longer speaking to each other.
Sam Haddad and his longtime friend and barber Mike Dettorre won $32 million with a Lotto 6/49 ticket in June 2008. It made for a great story: Dettorre had been cutting Haddad's hair for more than 30 years and the men often bought tickets together, sticking them on the mirror in Dettorre's Old Ottawa South barber shop until it was time to check for a winner.
Lottery tickets were a bit of a compulsion for Haddadthe self-employed floor installer estimates he has bought "thousands" over the years. He even took a couple of garbagebags full of them to Toronto to dance around in when he and Dettorre collected their winnings at the Ontario Lottery and Gaming office.
With them that day were their wives, children and extended family, including Haddad's sister, Leila Nahas. About 35 of them had travelled by limousine down Highway 401 for the celebration. Haddad, who was 57 at the time of the win, says he later gave some prize money to family members, including his sister.
That much of the story seems to be fact, agreed upon by both sides. Where things get murky is the question of who paid for the winning ticket, and who should reap the rewards. Because the fight is still in the courts, neither side would speak about the case, but the facts in dispute can be found in court documents.
Nahas says that she paid $1 toward the winning ticket. According to her statement of claim, filed in January, 2010, Haddad visited her store just before the June 28 draw and mentioned he and Dettorre were going to be playing the same set of numbers they had played before.
Nahas says she asked to split the ticket cost with Haddad and he agreed. She alleges that she asked her brother to put her name on the ticket once he had bought it. She then wrote down the numbers to be played on a slip of paper and put it in her wallet.
When Haddad won the lottery, Nahas says, she assumed he had won with another one of his tickets, because he "had told her he purchased many tickets for the same jackpot elsewhere," according to her statement of claim.
It wasn't until two months later that Nahas found the slip of paper with the winning numbers in her wallet, and "realized she was owed one third of the proceeds from the winning ticket."
After that, both sides agree, things got very unpleasant.
Nahas visited Haddad at his home, stated her case, and words were exchanged. According to Nahas, her brother threatened to ruin her reputation in their (formerly) close family, told her "she was 'dead to him'" and has not spoken to her since. Her response was to sue for a third of the winnings.
Haddad vigorously denies just about everything in his sister's claim, from even being in her store around the time of the draw, to having any discussion about sharing the cost of a ticket or showing her the numbers he was playing. Haddad says there was never an agreement and he has not denied his sister anything, nor did he issue any threats. He does say, however, that his sister became angry during the confrontation and he eventually had to tell her to leave his home.
Haddad wants the case dismissed, and has asked the court to order Nahas to pay his legal costs.
Dettorre is not part of the legal fight, although he stands to lose some of his winnings if the court finds that Nahas does have a claim to one-third of the pot.
Both sides have filed their statements, and their lawyers have completed examination for discovery. The next step is a settlement conference, where both sides meet with a judge.
Lawyers for Haddad and Nahas declined to comment on the case, and instructed their clients not to talk, either.
"We're in the middle of litigation and we can't be doing media interviews," says Lawrence Greenspon, representing Haddad.
The lesson in this for lottery players?
"Group plays are group plays, whether it's with family, co-workers or friends," says Tony Bitonti, spokesman for OLG.
"The key is communication within that group. Treat it as a financial transaction. If you are giving someone money to provide you with a product, make sure you get a receipt -in this case, a copy of the ticket."
sad...sad...sad... I hope they are able to work this out.
a part of me thinks he asked for 'trouble' when he gathered that load to collect HIS winnings .. he and his friend should have gone alone
then the other thing that gets me, is if the sister was indeed telling the truth, she should have calmly let her brother know of the numbers in her pocket and that agreement
but the part that makes it iffy for me is the sister insisting HER name be put on the lottery ticket .. for .50cents? that part alone makes me DISBELIEVE her case ...
if the brother makes a settlement of even $1.00, then I stand corrected .. but I do believe the sister may simply be confused of the days or just a liar
therein lies the beauty of gambling...anyone can be a winner...a respected scientist or a handyman that dances around in garbage bags
If this judge gives the sister anything, I'm quitting the lottery for ever. What did the sister do, give 33 1/3 cents to the brother to go play a set of numbers that he and his friend already were playing? 2 months later finding a set of numbers hand written in her pocket. She should be locked up.
in cases like these a portion goes to the person who put the money/bought the ticket or if they want to split it is fine BUT the person who thought of the numbers gets the bigger share or more than the others because you could had had all the money you want and not win/miss in fact you could had had lots of money and MISS EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE AND OF THESE PLANET LIFE TOO...Well about HAVING all the money you want is an oxymoron...thats the correct thing to do...
now if the ticket costs: $500,000 or $1 Million dollars that is something difficult to get or nobody has then the situation changes 50-50 i dont know....
It basically comes down to one fact: no proof. The sister has no proof and therefore deserves nothing. Even if there was a verbal agreement, you just can't realy on a verbal agreement. Get it on paper. Basically it's a he said, she said. That's what it boils down to. And if the judge awards her any money, I just might quit playing myself.
dont even like to answer posts like these because people make it about race and where i live you should see...
25% to 35% of people´s thoughts PER DAY is about RACE OR GENDER...cluttering people´s mind with junk...
and about the race thing 98% of humans TAKE CREDIT for something someone did in the past or in another country thinking about the race issue, and i am like: WERE YOU THEEERE...see this, EVERYDAY...people take credit for what someone else did who has passed away and nobody approaches the descendants of this PERSON and say, here you go you should be taken care off...
not telling you not to think about race but DARN thing is a pandemic taken up 25% to 35% of people brain ram disc...
worse than TV, TV you can turn it off...
"It wasn't until two months later that Nahas found the slip of paper with the winning numbers in her wallet, and "realized she was owed one third of the proceeds from the winning ticket."
The barber wasn't part of any agreement so half the money is his regardless what Nahas realized she is owed. Maybe the court will ask why it took her two months to check the numbers she alleges was split with her brother for one drawing.
I wonder if the two men who submitted the claim form had any WRITTEN lottery agreement. If yes, it could be important. If no ... stay tuned for dramatic and possibly surprising $$ re-distributions.
This right here illustrates the important lesson of those who choose to pool their money with others....never let another fly in on the soup...it just might drown all of them.
IMHO the sister is lying...I think I would have checked that right away, especially since she accompanied them to the ceremony. I smell garbage...and it is coming from the sis. I guess some people will do anything for "more" money.
I see what you're saying, although legally, you're wrong.
Whoever buys the ticket owns it, regardless of who tipped them off the numbers. Of course if someone gave me the winning numbers, and didn't play themselves, I'd share but I wouldn't legally have to even if they thought of the numbers, I bought the ticket, not them.
If she paid him $1 to go in on it and wrote the numbers down for the winning ticket, isn't it ALL HERS??
Why isn't she making that claim??
He purchased many tickets that day - did her dollar entitle her to the multi-ticket chances he bought with
his friend for that draw? WHY did she only write one set of numbers down and not every single line they
played if she assumed she was in on the whole deal? How convenient to say - hey, I payed for that one,
so where's my cut?
People are sick, greedy and crazy.
I'm NEVER going to play with anyone. I'll go it alone.
"I hope they are able to work this out."
Why would you hope they work it out? There's a chance there's an honest misunderstanding, but it sounds like one of them is trying to cheat the other out of $10 million dollars.
"the part that makes it iffy for me is the sister insisting HER name be put on the lottery ticket"
If you were part owner of a ticket wouldn't you want your name on it? Right now she doesn't appear to have any proof at all. If her name had been written on the ticket it would be assumed that she had an ownership interest in it.
"Whoever buys the ticket owns it, regardless of who tipped them off the numbers."
Ownership of the ticket depends on what the parties involved have agreed on. As always, if there are any disputes it will depend on what can be proven. It's entirely possible for one person to contribute the cost of the ticket and another to contribute the numbers. You just have to be clear that contributing the numbers is valued as much as contributing the cost of the ticket.
"If she paid him $1 to go in on it and wrote the numbers down for the winning ticket, isn't it ALL HERS?"
I assume that the game cost $2, as it does now, with an option to play a combination game for $3. Maybe she figured that even if she paid 1/2 there were still 3 people involved, or maybe they chose the $3 option, so if she really contributed $1 she would own 1/3 of any prize. They seem to agree that she didn't contribute to any tickets with other numbers.
Well said dr, Go it alone.
Another valuable lesson of life: ALWAYS BUY LOTTERY TICKETS ALONE !!!
"Nahas says she asked to split the ticket cost with Haddad and he agreed. She alleges that she asked her brother to put her name on the ticket once he had bought it. She then wrote down the numbers to be played on a slip of paper and put it in her wallet."
Something doesn't smell right about sis's story. The guy has bought thousands of tickets, so he is accustomed to getting lots of tickets on a regular basis. But according to sis, on this one particular day she just so happened to decide to participate with only 50 cents toward just one of those many tickets which miraculously turns out to be the winning ticket? Which, BTW, she totally forgot about that incident for a whole 2 months? You mean when he announced to everyone that he won, she had completely forgotten about that slip of paper she just wrote the numbers on? Uh-huh.
That sounds quite manufactured and I hope the court does NOT award her a single cent. If the court does award her based solely on this story, it could set a precedence so that anytime someone wins, anyone else can just manufacture a story and bring it to court with the hopes the court will weigh on their behalf. You could have a winning ticket and anyone could try to stake a claim on it.
The moral of the story?
Tell NO ONE!!!
I ALWAYS purchase my own lottery ticket & I don't promise anyone anything .............
................ that does not mean that I won't help anyone ..................
Amen and hallelujah!
If I won the lottery and someone manufactured a story and sued me for a portion of the winnings and was actually awarded the money, they wouldn't live to enjoy it. That's all I'm gonna say.
Nahas says she asked to split the ticket cost with Haddad and he agreed. She alleges that she asked her brother to put her name on the ticket once he had bought it. She then wrote down the numbers to be played on a slip of paper and put it in her wallet. Really, for paying a portion of the ticket cost she expected the ticket to have her name on it right after it was bought,. Who makes such a deal?
Haddad's mistake was ever allowing anyone even a sister to occasionally give him a dollar toward the purchases of lottery tickets when she knew it was only a portion of what he and his friend was spending.
I've had people offer to give me a dollar toward the purchase of lottery tickets and I always tell them if they want a dollar ticket then they should purchased it themselves because the 10 or so tickets I'm usually buying are for me only. That way if I ever do win I won't have someone coming forward later to say they think the day I won they gave me a dollars toward the purchase of lottery tickets with the understanding that any winnings would be shared equally.
This is a classic example of what the lottery can do to people, even your own family. There was a story about a mother that sued her son when her son won several million dollars. It's easy for a family member to fabricate a story. For example, a parent who's son or daughter wins the lottery might fabricate a story along the lines of "He told me that if he ever won the lottery, he would split it with me" or something similar to that. It could even go the other way around. That much money does crazy things to people. They see an opportunity to have their dream of retirement, so they fabricate these stories for a chance to live that dream. They're liars.
I always play alone. So far I have been asked 2 times at different gas stations by a clerk "If you win, are you going to give me a million dollars?". I don't know how many people know or care about the gift tax. People think that if you win a mega jackpot, you can just go around spotting people $100,000 here, $500,000 there, $1,000,000 there, like it's pocket change.
and that's the sucky part. I could marry anyone off the street and give them any of it without worrying about gift tax. hell with no prenup they would be entitled to it in the event of a divorce. but my mother....who labored over my birth, i cannot give any more than $13K or be subject to a rediculous tax. That's what people don't understand. It really needs to be changed. Blah blah blah estate tax I know WHY gift tax is in place but it needs to be tweaked just a bit to include mother/father/siblings. I guess that would potentionally open up more lawsuits though.
Apparently one ticket costs at least $2 so that's when the real problem started. The two month gap where the numbers went unnoticed in her wallet is highly suspicious. If someone handed me a buck to split a $2 ticket and told me which numbers to play, I'd tell them to fill out a playslip or buy their own ticket. If it was to get a QP, they would have no idea of what numbers were on the ticket unless I told them.
It gets even more complicated because the barber was splitting the cost and ownership of the ticket with Haddad and it looks the barber wasn't even aware of any further split Haddad's sister wanted to make. Had Haddad claimed the jackpot by himself, his sister may have a case but since it appears the ticket was already purchased by both Haddad and the barber, the sister believed she was getting a share of any tickets they bought.
If I was planning on getting 10 ticket and someone wanted to split one of the tickets, I always declined because if any one of my ticket hits the jackpot, they would believe it was the ticket we split.
The "tweak" is under the lifetime gift tax exemption.
Actually I think 13K is a good number, that way if anyone asks for a load of cash after I win I can pull the gift tax card
I realize there is a $1,000,000 lifetime exemption, but I still think it's messed up. If I won say $50,000,000 after taxes, I'd want to give $3,000,000 to my dad and $2,000,000 to my sister. That easily goes above the lifetime exemption. I guess the way to get around this would be by claiming as a group. The only thing is though, who's to say after I offer for us to claim as a group they won't say, "Well it's $50,000,000, how come we can't just split it equally?". Even if they were to agree on the figures I came up with, once the word gets out that I gave them $3,000,000 and $2,000,000, you can count on the aunts, uncles, cousins, and other family wanting a handout of at least a few hundred thousand as well. I think you should be able to give any amount of money to your immediate family without having to incur a gift tax, at least when it comes to cash.
there is a story out here in oz that a son won lotto and let parents manage hids money, you know cuz he was kinda stupid. and not smart with money
well they blew it all for him.
So far I have been asked 2 times at different gas stations by a clerk "If you win, are you going to give me a million dollars?".
Sometimes I think the only reasons some clerks get jobs at gas stations that sell lots of lottery tickets is so they can get gratuities from lottery winners and maybe even get a share a jackpot if one of their customers get lucky. On many occasions I've had a friendly clerk say "You're going to remember me if you win, aren't you?" and I answered a friendly "No, sorry I don't really know you". Even had some of them look like a deer starking into a car head lights when I've cashed a ticket worth a hundred dollars or more as I thanked them and left. I usually shop at different places for my tickets since I don't consider any of the clerks my friend.
That may work if they care about such things, but it's the GIVER that pays the gift tax, so the recipient doesn't have much reason to care about that.
If that doesn't works as a polite way of saying no then you just say "HEL.....NO" in a way they understand.
On many occasions I've had a friendly clerk say "You're going to remember me if you win, aren't you?"
Reading some of these stories makes me wonder, how many of these people we encounter everyday would go so far as to fabricate a story like Sis did? Supposing RJoh wins, and when this clerk learns who it was, he fabricates a story that RJoh promised him a share of the winnings? Then he finds an unscrupulous, greedy lawyer (I know that was redundant) who is willing to take it to court?
I truly hope Sis gets nothing, nada, zero, zilch. The court has to send a message and set a precedent that if anyone plans on getting a share of someone elses future winnings, they'd ed sure as hell better have something clearly written out and signed by both parties with copies of tickets, etc. The court should not issue an award based on 'he said she said'.
Otherwise it could pave the way for anyone to make up any kind of lie and win a portion of your winnings.
I'd like to hear where this case goes and hope sometime we get a followup to this story.
if she does get a cut it should be out of her brother half for taking her 1$. i dont see that the other guy had any clue into a contract her and her bro had , and he shouldnt be held to it.
My opinion is she is completely lying about the dollar or even talking to her brother about sharing the ticket she has no proof. With people like ths i don't know nothing you can do. Some people say this why they don't enter pools but lol seems you can enter one without even knowing :/
100% in agreement Sully,
Again, it's not the money, but love of money above all else.....
Really too bad but the golden calf will rule in absence of love this punishing the entire family clan
There's always a Price to be paid......
EddessaKnight