GF and mother of his kid has no right to NJ $338M Powerball Win..

[HipChick]

A New Jersey man who won a $338 million Powerball jackpot, among the largest lottery winnings, is embroiled in a court fight with his former girlfriend over the money.

Pedro Quezada of Passaic was the sole winner of the Powerball drawing last spring, worth about $152 million after taxes.

His lawyer argues that Inez Sanchez has no claim to the money because the couple were never married.

But attorneys for Sanchez say Quezada purchased the ticket based on the couple's shared earnings. Sanchez and Quezada lived together for 10 years, have a child together, and shared ownership of a grocery store in Passaic, attorneys say


The judge said Friday that while the couple's relationship was long-term and Sanchez contributed to the household, the court has no legal framework for restraining Quezada's assets.
Sanchez has moved out of the recently purchased Clifton home the couple shared and has filed a domestic violence claim against Quezada, The Record reported. Quezada's attorney declined to comment on that claim.

Sanchez's attorney says that a large chunk of the lottery winnings is already gone, claiming $57 million has been sent to Quezada's native Dominican Republic, $5 million was given away, $300,000 was spent on the home in Clifton, and $20 million can't be located, the newspaper reported.
http://www.nj.com/passaic-county/index.ssf/2013/11/passaic_lottery_winner_in_court_fight_with_ex-girlfriend_over_338_million_powerball_jackpot.html

[seabeyond]

1. large chunk is not even half. hey, there is a law in texas that if you live with someone for like

7 yrs... common law? she gets a piece.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

4. no such law in NJ...

legally, she deserves squat. now, on a more HUMAN basis, the dude should cut her in for a good chunk if they really were so closely intertwined...

sP

[pnwmom]

5. People have won palimony suits before. If she can prove

they pooled assets for years, she has a chance.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

6. depends on the laws in NJ...

and i know they have no 'common-law marriage' law on the books so palimony might be difficult. we shall see when the legal beagles have their final say... but she should just be a decent human and give her and his child some of that money.

sP

[yeoman6987]

7. Lottery Winner

So instead of giving his girlfriend of 10 years a couple million, he is going to give his lawyer the money. How dumb.

[jaysunb]

2. Dear Pedro

Stop being an ass.

[Chan790]

3. Especially since they have a kid together.

He's going to "be an ass" right into a large child-support judgement.

[gopiscrap]

8. agreed

[Sheldon Cooper]

9. $20 million can't be located?

Weird.

[CTyankee]

10. well, that's interesting...

it's gotta be squirreled away somewhere...Switzerland?

[Sheldon Cooper]

11. I'm guessing the child support authorities will be very interested in locating that money.

I don't really care that he didn't give any money to his former girlfriend, but I think he should pay through the teeth for his kid. You can cast off your SO, but not your kid and I hope he learns that the hard way.

This is assuming of course that he hasn't made any arrangements for his kid. The article didn't say, so I can't tell.

[Packerowner740]

12. That's a lot of money that can't be located

If I lose $20 I freak

[DragonBorn]

13. Couldn't his girlfriend go to court for child support?

I mean technically shes not entitled to his winning from the powerball ticket, but isn't child support payments based on your total net worth? Which would be greatly increased by his powerball winnings.... Take his greedy butt to court.

[tammywammy]

14. That's exactly what I was thinking.

Common law is more than a mingling of funds (which apparently NJ doesn't recognize common law). I believe in Texas (though I'm not 100% sure) you also have to represent yourself as married, i.e. introduction as "this is my wife".

I don't see why she would have a claim to the money itself, but as far as child support she should go to the court and request a modification of the support agreement.