Wife Keeps Husband From Sharing Lottery Winnings With Best Friend
Ava Arnold After a woman and her husband discovered that they had won the lottery, she was surprised to learn about her husband’s plans for what they should do with their new earnings, which were drastically different than what she imagined. Although she expressed her concerns to her husband, he called her “selfish” for not being on board with his idea.
Now, she is wondering if she is in the wrong.
The woman’s husband wants to split their lottery winnings with his best friend and business partner.
Sharing her story to the subreddit, r/AmITheA–hole, the 30-year-old woman revealed that she recently began playing the lottery after her friends were buzzing about the Powerball jackpot.
“Since then I’ve played casually, only spending a few dollars a week,” the woman wrote. “I occasionally won a few bucks and never really expected to win anything big but it was nice to dream as I had a ton of debt and have been struggling a lot.”
After a few months of participating in Powerball, the woman checked the winning numbers on one particular evening and was shocked to discover that they matched her ticket number.
“Initially I didn’t believe it and thought there had to be a mistake so I told my husband and we checked it like a dozen times and I was right, we won,” she shared. According to the woman, their winnings were “life-changing, multi-generational, f–k you money.”
Photo: LightField Studios
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The woman and her husband, Adam, decided to keep the news to themselves for a few months until they decided exactly what to do with their new fortune.
“The past few months have been an incredible high, filled with disbelief and though it’s been difficult, we have managed not to make any large purchases or change our lifestyle,” the woman admitted. “We fantasized about what to do with our money but the time to claim is drawing near so we have begun having more practical discussions about how to claim it and what to do with it.”
While discussing options on what they should do with the money, the woman’s husband brought up the idea of splitting it with his longtime best friend and business partner, Tim.
“Together they’ve started businesses, work together, invested money, moved to the same town, and have often dreamed about our families making it big together,” the woman wrote. “Since we have taken risks together and are so close, Adam feels it’s fair to give them 1/3 of the cash prize so that one, we are not going on this journey to a new life alone and two, it’s suspicious to make all this money suddenly and more easily explained if Tim ‘makes’ money as well since we do everything together.”
However, the woman is not on board with splitting the money with her husband's friend.
She noted that she's concerned about the risks involved when it comes to including them in their winnings.
“Tim’s family tends to be more flashy and like showing off and I don’t fully trust that they will keep it quiet or modest enough to not raise suspicion,” the woman shared. “This is important because I’ve seen community members harass and attack people with far less money just because they feel entitled. This could jeopardize our safety so I want to avoid it if at all possible.”
The woman is also uncomfortable adding Tim and his wife as members of their LLC to claim the prize money since she worries that they may feel entitled to a greater chunk of the money.
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The woman’s husband believes that she is being “selfish” for not wanting to share their money with Tim and his family.
She explained that he claims that he will be unable to enjoy their newfound wealth if they are not living the same lifestyle.
Still, this does not mean that the woman isn’t planning on sharing their winnings with Tim and his family in some way. “I think we could find a way to later give them some money after figuring out a way to explain how we came into money without telling them we won the lottery,” she wrote.
She asked other Redditors if she was in the wrong over how she felt about the entire situation.
Most Redditors believed that the woman should not have to share her lottery winnings with her husband’s friend and his family.
‘“The idea of giving your husband's friend any of it is bats–t insane,” one user commented. “Your husband's justifications for this all sound like utter nonsense. It's not a good idea.”
“I find it exceptionally bizarre that your husband wants to make plans with your lottery winnings with his best friend,” another user wrote. “Best friend, business partner or not.... why does your husband even think HIS friend should have YOUR money?”
Related Stories From YourTango:Other users encouraged the woman to seek help from a reputable lawyer to protect her winnings and ensure that she and her husband rightfully claim the money.
Winning the lottery often leads to negative consequences.
Before even entering the lottery, it is essential to have conversations with your spouse, or anyone you collaborate with when buying lottery tickets, about how you plan on using the money should you win.
It is also important to note that lottery winners who receive over $15,000 are expected to pay “gift taxes” that apply to anyone who transfers money or a product to someone else without receiving anything in return.
While helping out any friends and family if you have the money is a noble thing to do, you must have a financial plan before making any big decisions with a large sum of money. It is easy to forget how quickly it can disappear just as quickly as it came into your life, especially if the wrong decisions are made.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.
