Case Example

One interesting case involved the ownership of a California lottery ticket. George and Sarah lived together but weren’t married. He was eighty-five years old and she took care of him. They kept some spare change and a few dollars in a coffee can in the kitchen. Sarah would take out a dollar every few days to buy a lottery ticket. Over the years, there were a few winning tickets worth $20 or $100 and she would put those winnings back into the coffee can to finance future tickets.

One day they hit the grand prize of $12 million—twenty annual payments of $600,000, less taxes. Soon after the celebration was over, human nature being what it is, George claimed that the money in the coffee can was really his money and he was the sole owner of the ticket. Sarah, shocked and hurt, claimed they had always treated the coffee can money as joint property and that she was justifiably entitled to half of the winnings. Both sides hired lawyers, and George refused to settle the case.

The case went to trial in San Diego, and the jury found for George. They believed his story that the money to buy the ticket belonged to him and that there was no legal agreement between them to share the winnings. George got to keep it all.

We certainly do not know who was telling the truth, and that’s exactly the point. Nobody ever knows for sure who is telling the truth in these situations. That’s why anyone with whom you are involved, in any kind of business or personal relationship, can claim that you broke a promise and that they are entitled to some amount of compensation.