Man Uses Son's Lottery Winnings To Claim Huge Investment Payout
There’s no guarantee of winning when someone buys a lottery ticket, and it’s always a welcomed surprise when they hit the jackpot. But this is only simple if the person who buys the ticket is also the person who wins.
Things get complicated when it comes to deciding who should keep the money, especially when gifts, investing and children are involved. For example, who do the winnings belong to if the lottery ticket was given as a gift? Similarly, who should claim the additionally earned cash if the winnings earn money via investments? These questions are why many people keep their lottery tickets and winnings to themselves.
In this blog, Go Gambling has taken a look at what happens when lottery winnings are invested, and who is the rightful owner of the earned funds. With nearly 5,000 comments and 16k reactions, this is a Reddit post that did spark quite a debate.
Background Story
After a lottery ticket win, a man took to the AITA Subreddit to ask others, AITA for spending my son’s lottery winnings money?
The man explained that he has a wife named Wilhelma and two sons, Sam and Scott. Six years ago, he bought a lottery ticket for each member of the family. He told his children that they would have to share their winnings and that they would have to put it away for college before spending it on anything else.
He didn’t expect anything to come of it, but Sam's ticket won. Sam hadn’t won the jackpot but after taxes, the winnings amounted to $60,000. He discussed saving it for college but agreed to some of the family’s requests for splurges, such as a gaming system and a family holiday to Disney World. Sam wanted a car. He notes that Wilhelma had no complaints about any of these purchases.
He invested the rest of the winnings, growing the pot to $100,000. Recently, when preparing for Sam's college expenses, he mentioned giving him $30,000. He explains as he invested the money, the extra $40,000 is his. He considers it part of his efforts in managing and growing the account, and plans to use the money for early retirement.
But, his wife thinks it should all go to Sam, as they were his lottery winnings. Does $40,000 gained belong to the man who managed the investment or does it belong to Sam, who’s lottery ticket won the money?
What Everyone Else Had to Say
This was a hot topic, and peoples’ opinions were divided, with many agreeing with the thoughts of the man in question. There were a lot of Redditors who felt the extra $40,000 did belong to the man, as he was the person who invested the money and he was also the person who bought the ticket. The $40,000 was gained because of his hard work, and keeping it doesn’t mean Sam misses out on any money initially promised.
As Twokindsofpeople explained, “That's completely fair and reasonable. You get something, your kids get a headstart, and you all get a vacation out of it. Just an all-around fair way of handling things.”
LAST_NIGHT_WAS_WEIRD agreed, saying: “If we’re getting technical, kids can’t buy lottery tickets or cash-winning tickets. All the lottery tickets were dad’s, and deciding how to spend the money for his family best is up to him.”
Many people shared similar thoughts, agreeing that the man was within his right to keep the money, as it was only the original $60,000 that the son had won.
Myepenisbigger commented: ”Dad bought the tickets; dad gets the money. He is being exceedingly generous by giving the boys 60k.”
Blueberrylemontea commented: “I would agree if he were taking $40k out of the $60k (leaving Sam and his brother with $20k) but he’s not. Sam won $60k and has to share it with his brother, leaving them both $30k. The $40k is just extra that the dad made.”
_gayby_ commented: “He bought the ticket. He told his kids they’d have to share the winnings. He’s giving them their share of the winnings, and taking the leftover he grew it into as compensation because without his work it’d still be just 60k. If the kids were involved in the growth of the money in any way or were told they’d get more that’d be something else. But it’s not.”
However, many Redditors thought the opposite, with some arguing that Sam’s money earned the investment, and so, like the original winnings, the additional $40,000 also belonged to him.
BadboyJH commented: “You managed the account, but his money (and his capital) allowed you to do it. An investment adviser wouldn't get all the money I earned with my money. Why would you?”
Hurricancj commented: “You stole your son's money and plan to retire early with it. Wealth Management professionals make 1% a year on investments and you are taking over 10x that.”
Total_Trash_Baby commented: “YTA for also GAMBLING with your child’s money. That easily could have gone south, and he would have lost money. Bet you would have never given him $30k if it had dropped 20k”
Koolconjr made a good point: YTA. So yes legally it’s your money. But, you gave that ticket to your son with a couple stipulations. That’s fair. Obviously you made some good investment decisions to allow it to grow, but it would be unfair of you to take that money out to have an early retirement without asking your son. He followed your agreement and you did not.
Though there was a clear divide, BadboyJH’s opinion comes out on top, with many people agreeing that the man is wrong for wanting to keep the money. Some people agreed with the man, claiming that the additional $40,000 wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for his hard work and dedication to investing; most people agreed with BadboyJH. The overriding opinion from that camp is that the investment was earned using Sam’s capital, so the money belongs to him, regardless of who managed the investments.
Still, to have a dilemma like this is not a bad place to be in life! Whilst a huge casino win can change life for the better, it's important to understand how to claim prizes quickly and with minimum fuss. One of the things that really helps is to submit all ID and payment details at the registration stage, as this ensures that payouts can be processed without unnecessary delay.
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