RI Ex-Wife Won $4M Scratch-Off, Ex-Husband Lost Supreme Court Appeal To Undo Divorce

A Rhode Island man lost his state Supreme Court bid to undo his divorce based on his belief that his ex-wife bought a $4 million winning scratch-off ticket before the split was finalized.

"A seemingly routine, straightforward, nominal divorce on the grounds that the parties had lived separate and apart for a period of at least three years became contentious when the plaintiff, Ana Varela, cashed a winning $4 million lottery ticket on November 4, 2020," Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell wrote in the Supreme Court opinion.

Varela's divorce from ex-husband Daniel M. Monteiro was finalized Oct. 8, 2020, the opinion said.

Varela elected to take a lump-sum payout of $2.6 million, which was reduced to $1,846,000 after taxes, according to the opinion.

"There is a dispute as to the exact date but between October 29 and October 31, 2020, both dates being more than twenty days after final judgment had entered, plaintiff purchased a scratch lottery ticket and won $4 million," according to the opinion.

In September 2021, Monteiro "moved to vacate the judgment based on his belief that the (Varela) had bought the winning lottery ticket prior" to the final judgment, the opinion said.

Varela, 48, and Monteiro, 56, married in November 2007, according to the opinion.

At some time in 2012, (Monteiro) left the marital home and moved to Massachusetts," the opinion said, and Varela filed for divorce in Providence/Bristol County Court.

Monteiro "filed neither an answer nor a counterclaim, and the action proceeded on the nominal divorce calendar," the opinion said.

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