The key is that he had been buying these tickets routinely for the previous years of his marriage. The tickets he bought on the 17th were just a continuation of that pattern. So his wife (at the time) lost the money from the lottery ticket buys, so she should have a share of the winnings.
To put it another way, if he had not bought tickets for all of those years, would he have bought the ticket for the July 17th drawing? Since his wife (at the time) tolerated (or perhaps even encouraged) his lottery playing, she contributed to the fact that he bought the winning ticket, so she should have a share of the winnings.
And, just perhaps, he bought the ticket prior to the date and our when his divorce became final. If that is the case, the ticket is an asset of the divorce, and should be divided equitably, so she should have her share of the winnings.
Failing all that, the judge could always come up with...
An equitable solution to the question of division of property would give her part of the winnings, because she has so little and he would hardly miss the money, since he's rollin' in dough...
................
So, how'd I do?
>So, how'd I do?<
Very, very good.....shudder....
Hope you're on our side! ;)
>So, how'd I do?
With credentials like that, Kerry's going to appoint you to the Supreme Court...