No Lottery Win for Husband!

When deciding the status of a national lottery win, the High Court  has refused to award a man a half-share of his ex-wife’s lottery prize. The case was brought by a hotel porter whose wife had, during the marriage in 1999 . won £500,000 on a National Lottery ticket . The money was used to buy a new matrimonial home in London, where they lived until the marriage broke down three years later.

When they got divorced, the husband, who now has a low income and lives in a housing association flat, applied to the High Court to have the lottery winnings counted as part of the matrimonial assets for the purposes of a financial settlement.

Mr. Justice Mostyn ruled, however, that the prize should not be included as matrimonial property. The wife had been part of a syndicate, had played the lottery without the husband’s knowledge and had brought the ticket from her own income.  As such the husband was not entitled to a share of this prize.

However, the money invested in the matrimonial home was designated as matrimonial property and could thus be included in the joint assets for division. After taking into account the couple’s needs and the fact that the husband had only lived at this property for a relatively short amount of time, the Court decided he was only entitled to 20% of the net equity. He was awarded a capital sum of £85,000.Who said litigation was a gamble.

For matrimonial advice contact Phil Thorneycroft on 01752 292310