Winning the lottery can certainly resolve many issues, but it can also bring about a new set of challenges. This was the case for Denise Rossi from California, who faced a troubling situation after winning a $1.3 million lottery jackpot. She attempted to hide her winnings from her ex-husband during their divorce proceedings.
Unfortunately for Denise, she was eventually ordered to give all her winnings to her former spouse.
This scenario is unique among the numerous stories of lottery winners going broke due to poor financial management and extravagant spending.
It’s a situation that might be hard to explain without eliciting a chuckle from others. Denise filed for divorce just 11 days after her lottery win, opting to conceal it—a task easier said than done.
In December 1996, after 25 years of marriage, she filed for divorce from her husband, Thomas Rossi. One might think it would be straightforward, but it wasn’t.
When the divorce case was brought to court, the judge found that Denise had violated asset disclosure laws and acted with fraud or malice by not revealing the $6.6 million she won alongside five colleagues.
In her defense, Denise claimed she was trying to prevent her husband from accessing her winnings. While understandable, her concealment involved a significant sum, not just a small amount.
Thomas Rossi only discovered the lottery win about two years after their divorce when he received a letter from a company specializing in paying out lottery winnings.
The letter was addressed to Denise and mentioned that the company had assisted many lottery winners in obtaining lump-sum payments for their future lottery payouts.
Thomas Rossi’s lawyer, Mark Lerner, noted, “I think he scratched his head for a while, saying: ‘What? This can’t be.'”
Subsequently, Thomas obtained an injunction and took his ex-wife to court. The court ruled that Denise must pay him 20 annual installments of $66,800. Her lawyer described the decision as “very punitive.”
Denise’s attorney, Connolly Oyler, suggested that if she had disclosed her win, he might have been able to argue for the winnings as her separate property or negotiate a settlement. However, he noted, “The judge got mad and gave it all to him.”