I got £1million lottery winnings from my ex in bitter divorce battle – the split blindsided me but I got the last laugh
A MAN “blindsided” by his divorce got the last laugh after convincing a judge that his ex-wife should hand over her entire £1million lottery jackpot.
The California woman, Denise Rossi, was forced to give all her winnings to her ex in a bitter divorce feud after he accused her of fraud.
When Denise snagged the whopping windfall, she chose to keep her new fortune from her husband of 25 years, Thomas.
Eleven days later, she decided to divorce him.
She left out her lottery winnings in her divorce proceedings and was later determined by a judge to have violated laws on the disclosure of assets and funds, and to have acted in fraud or malice.
Thomas did not learn about his ex-wife’s lottery win for several years after their 1996 split – when he stumbled across a letter sent from a company that gave lump sum payouts to lottery winners.
The letter, which was addressed to Denise, stated that the company had “helped hundreds of lottery winners like you around the country receive a lump-sum payment for the present value of their future annual lottery payments”.
Denise had discreetly organised for the original winnings cheque to be mailed to her mum’s address, court proceedings revealed.
She claimed she had wanted to leave her marriage for several years before she filed for divorce – within days of her lottery win.
But Thomas claimed he was totally “blindsided” and “confused”.
He told People in 2004: “She wanted me to move out of the house very fast. It wasn’t like her to act this way.”
Denise was ordered by a judge to pay her then-65-year-old ex-husband 20 yearly payments of £52,111 – which would together amount to her entire £1million win.
If she had been honest about her jackpot, she may have been able to hold onto them, Denise’s lawyer Connolly Oyler said.
He told reporters at the time: “I could have argued successfully that it was her separate property.
“Or we could have argued and we would have reached some adjustment. But the judge got mad and gave it all to him.”
Thousands of lottery winners have recently spoken out about their prizes being withheld from the state, potentially because of a simple glitch.
Florida lottery winners have said their state is “illegally withholding” their winnings due to a system error which makes it seem as though they were overpaid in unemployment benefits.
Many of them say that they applied for unemployment assistance during the Covid pandemic, but never received notice from the state that they had been overpaid in benefits, reports NewsNation.
Other winners have also fallen foul of the lottery curse – bagging huge jackpots but losing everything after making major money mistakes.
Sharon Tirabassi from Ontario, Canada, won a whooping £8million before losing the lot in just ten years.
Before the win, Sharon lived in a humble apartment with her three children and could not afford a car.
When she won the jackpot in April 2004, she bought a house, married Vinny, and had three more children.
For the 35-year-old, who grew up moving from shelter to shelter and lived off welfare payments, the massive windfall was nothing short of a dream come true.
However, Sharon splashed almost all her money on lavish designer shopping trips, fancy cars, all-inclusive holidays, and handouts to friends and family.
LOTTO WINNER NEAR-MISSES
LOTTO winners have shared tales of when they almost lost their winnings before even being able to spend it.
MUM IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT
Joanne Jobson from Hartlepool, County Durham, snagged the top prize on Set For Life and now banks £10,000 every month – and will do so for the next three decades.
But the hardworking carer revealed how she almost missed out on the prize money after her mum believed it was a scam.
After Joanne checked her account and discovered she had won a jaw-dropping amount of money, she rushed to tell her mum, who she lives with.
She said: “I jumped out of bed and went to tell my mum.
“I remember just saying to Mum: ‘I think I might have won a lot of money’ and showing her my phone.
“Mum was convinced it was a scam, so I googled the winning Set For Life numbers for the same date to see if they matched – which of course they did.”
It was only when Joanne got through to the staff at the National Lottery that she was able to confirm that her life had changed forever.
A MOVING OUT GIFT
Lucky punter Alan Jones, 56, had almost axed his ticket for his sold Tyne and Wear property.
Instead, on the last day in his home, Jones’ Westerhope postcode struck gold with him and five other neighbours who all netted £166,666 each.
Jones said: “I was going to cancel my ticket and renew it wherever I end up. Thank goodness I didn’t.
“I’ve got to be out by 2pm tomorrow and I’m basically packing up the house now because I need a new start. This has helped give me that.”
CHECK YOUR LOTTO BALANCE
Euromillions winner Ian Anderson scooped a £1million jackpot prize but nearly missed out on the life-changing win.
Ian Anderson, 77, and wife Marlyn, 70, bagged the massive sum after copping the fateful £2.50 Lucky Dip ticket.
The elderly couple only had £4.90 left in their National Lottery account before they opted to take a chance on the jackpot.
Marlyn, who now cares for her terminally ill husband after he was sadly diagnosed with pleural plaques and pulmonary fibrosis, always plays the Lottery but had no idea that one day she would win big.
She recalled: “I just thought there is no point £4.90 just sitting in my account, I will buy a lucky dip ticket for the next draw.
“It was the day after the draw that I saw an email saying there was good news about my ticket.”
LISTEN TO YOUR GUT
Tamsin Burling, 33, admitted to learning a big lesson after scooping £83,000 on the lottery
The mum, who won her share of £1million alongside her Kent neighbours, said her fiancé Craig Billington once tried to convince her not to buy a ticket.
But she ignored him and now they’ve scooped tens of thousands of pounds.
Craig, 32, looked on sheepishly as Tamsin, who at the time was seven months pregnant with their third child, celebrated the five-figure win.
Now that Sharon and her family are back to square one, they live in a rented place and rely on monthly paycheques.
However, the mum claims to be way more happy living a normal life.
She said: “Money is the root of all evil. The moment I got it, I divided it among my family.
“All of that other stuff was fun in the beginning, now it’s back to life.”