AMSTERDAM — A woman who won a €2.1 million (US$2.3 million) lottery prize during a divorce has no obligation to share it with her ex-husband, according to a Dutch court decision published on Tuesday.
The Amsterdam District Court ruling said the couple had listed the shared assets they wished to divide at the time they filed for divorce on Oct. 20, 2014, though the divorce was not formally granted until June 2015. The woman won the Post Code Lottery on New Year's Day 2015.
The man had argued that he and his estranged wife always played the lottery using shared household funds during their 30-year marriage, and it should be included in their divorce settlement.
But the judge noted they had separated their finances at least four years earlier when he went to live with his new girlfriend. The woman paid for the winning ticket from her own bank account.
"The above means that the prize won did not belong to their joint assets and that the court will hold the prize apart in its division of goods," the written decision said. The ruling was made on Dec. 23 and published Tuesday.
The judge divided up the couple's other assets, which amounted to less than €10,000 in value.
The old theory of many ex-spouses "what's mines is all mines and half of what's yours is mines too" isn't always true in court.
Nice try A<hole>.......... another one bites the dust, hey, hey!
Surprised that the judge ruled in her favor since the divorce wasn't finalized.
Wonder if him moving out with the new women 4 yrs earlier had any effect (or is it affect? always get them reversed- lol!)
I believe his moving out four years earlier with a new women affected the judges decision to the effect of"NO LOTTO LOOT"!
Don't forget that old adage," Hell Hath No Fury, Like A Woman Scorned."
Men waste a lot of money $ chasing women but never run out of women when chasing money $
Eddessa_Knight
wow - they split 10k euros worth of stuff and she keeps 2.1M euros. i bet she just might be willing to let him keep ALL of their shared wealth at this point.
HAHAHAHAAA!!!!
This makes me VERY happy!! What a dummie! He had a winner and got a loser!
You surprised? I'm not. He probably thought he was going to win twice in a row by ..
1st: Ditching the wife and moving in with the girlfriend.
2nd- attempting to royally screw the wife over by getting a share of HER money years after he left.The judge made the correct decision.
This has got to be THE BEST Christmas lottery story...EVAH!!!
And three cheers for the Dutch judicial system who got it right.
This man has been separated from his wife for 4 years, and while he was shacked up with another woman, had his finances 100% separate and apart from his wife, and he feels he's entitled to half of her winnings from a ticket she bought AFTER they filed for divorce? Is he insane? They were separated in every way possible. That the courts hadn't gotten around to finalizing the divorce is a secondary matter.
And that nonsense about buying tickets together for 30 years means he's entitled to a share is <snip>amamie baloney. I'm sure they also shared incomes and future plans together for those 30 years. Does that mean she's entitled to a share of everything he made or was gifted with after they'd filed for divorce? Puh-lease.
Sometimes, not often, but sometimes karma and irony unite and gifts us with a twofer. This is one of those times. And it is a thing of beauty.
He won't be able to afford to take his girlfriend out now.
Unless they go Dutch.
Kind of surprised it took that long to divorce him. He made his own bed when he moved in with his girlfriend 4 years ago. Glad to hear that there is still common sense justice in this world.
WOW, that was bad...lol
Speaking of things Dutch, did you hear about the new movie Ron Howard is directing and starring in? It's about a music teacher in The Netherlands and is called "Mr. Opie's Holland".
So, they are going Dutch?
She should at least buy him a pair of clogs!
l got to thinking: The only way this" ex" could claim a portion of the wife's lottery win was him moving out & in with his new gf- and the ex & him continued to pool their resources in playing the lottery. ...What are those chances of happening? .anyone, anyone?
"The judge made the correct decision. "
because this was an easy decision for the judge; she filed for divorce before she won the lottery. A divorce is no different than dissolving any contract and is usually specific on future earnings. Some people believe by suggesting there is a verbal contract between them and lottery winners, they have rights to a portion of the winnings.
I was just reading about prenuptial agreements. I do not know if this is relevant to this discussion but it is an interesting topic. Especially when dealing with Lottery winners.
Happy New Year !!!
I agree.
Good for her, enjoy!
Ha!Ha!Ha! That is what he gets!LOL! I am so happy that the wife got to keep all of these funds for herself...the ex doesn't deserve not one penny of it...perhaps him and his girlfriend can go in together and get their own lotto tixs...in the meantime I hope the wife is laughing all the way to the bank!
"Sometimes, not often, but sometimes karma and irony unite and gifts us with a twofer. This is one of those times. And it is a thing of beauty."
Right on, as usual, Teddi! And very well phrased.
"A divorce is no different than dissolving any contract and is usually specific on future earnings."
True enough, but the marriage contract isn't dissolved until the divorce is final. That there was a court case at all suggests that the applicable law is similar to what we have in the US, and your finances are assumed to be mingled as long as you're still married. Basing the ruling on the apparent fact that they separated their finances well before she bought the ticket makes obvious sense, but depending on what the law says a judge may not always have that option. There was an article here some time back about a couple that had finalized their divorce, but one of them sued for a share of a lottery prize anyway based (IIRC) on the divorce not stipulating that their finances were completely severed. I think they got some of the money.
It's also possible that because they were still married he could have been on the hook for her financial obligations, and may have been stuck paying off her credit cards and mortgage if she'd been hit by a bus instead of bought a winning lottery ticket. It's not equitable if he has to share in her bad fortune but can't share in her good fortune.
The obvious take away here is that if you're going to end the actual relationship you should make a point of ending the legal relationship, too.
Yeah, Drenick1, apparently this woman is no stranger to prolonged financial & mental anguish and self-esteem dismantling!
Had this been in the US and it were the other way around where the man won the lottery, how many think the soon to be ex wife would have been granted a share?
If it were the other way around in the Dutch courts or the US the man would have had to pay up. The court systems are so frikkin biased. He should at least get alimony or spousal support the woman would've been granted it.
How would this have played out if this was in reverse?
Well said
There have been several female lottery winners here in the states that ended up with judgements/settlements entitling their former spouse to a share of the winnings. One of them was a young woman in California who was part of a group that won a major jackpot and featured on TLCML.
No doubt that judge is a chick.