He divorced his wife then came back after her $6.8 million lottery win. The judge pointed at a calendar
Weeks after her divorce, Ana Varela won a $6.8 million jackpot — and her ex-husband wasn't ready to walk away
Ana Varela and Daniel Monteiro thought their marriage had ended for good after finalizing their divorce over a video call during the pandemic in 2020. However, nothing tests the finality of a breakup quite like a sudden fortune. Just weeks after their split, when Varela won an astonishing $6.8 million scratch-off jackpot, her ex-husband quickly resurfaced. He initiated a contentious legal battle seeking a share of the winnings. What he didn't realize was that one crucial date would ultimately determine the outcome of the entire case, as reported by the Daily Mail on July 12, 2026.
A quiet split
Varela and Monteiro married each other back in November 2007, but the relationship soured within five years. By 2012, Monteiro had moved out of the family home to relocate to Massachusetts. Following this, the couple lived completely separate lives for years before Varela officially filed for divorce in February 2020. Given that their relationship was almost nonexistent at that point, Monteiro chose not to fight. So, the pair appeared for the proceedings on June 8, 2020, to represent themselves. The judge approved the split that same day, noting that they had already "divided all of their personal property to their mutual satisfaction."
The paperwork blunder
Although the decision was swift, without attorneys to guide them, Varela attempted to navigate the court's filing process alone, which led to a critical procedural hiccup. In September 2020, she submitted both the temporary and the final judgment forms simultaneously. Because of a "ministerial error" by the court during the chaotic pandemic era, clerks processed and entered both documents on the same day, 8 October 2020. Legally, these forms are supposed to be filed 20 days apart, creating a technical flaw that later sparked a multi-million dollar debate.
The winning ticket
Nonetheless, while all this happened, somewhere around October 29 and October 31, Varela decided to try out her luck. She bought a Rhode Island scratch-off lottery ticket. To her surprise, she hit the $6.8 million jackpot. Days later, she claimed her prize, opting for a lump-sum payout of roughly $2.6 million, which left her with nearly $2 million after taxes. While she thought that the money was completely hers, her husband quickly jumped to snatch a share of it away after learning about the flawed divorce entry.
A bitter battle
Smelling the fortune, Monteiro returned to court in September 2021, launching a legal campaign to overturn the divorce judgment so he could claim a cut of the jackpot. He argued the technical paperwork error meant they were still legally married when the ticket was bought. The sudden injection of wealth instantly turned this routine divorce into a battle. This forced Varela to hire a legal counsel of her own to protect her money. More than a year later, as the battle raged, the family court did acknowledge the error, but they refused to void the divorce.
Final victory
Monteiro appealed to the state's highest court, but the Rhode Island Supreme Court dealt him a final blow. Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell affirmed the lower court's ruling, stating that "cause has not been shown and that case may be decided without further briefing." The court ruled that because the ticket was bought past the 20-day threshold from their actual divorce agreement, the millions were strictly non-marital property. Naturally, Varela celebrated the win, as her counsel noted the danger of going to court alone could end up costing you millions.
End up getting sued
Sudden windfalls can reshape relationships in unexpected ways. A 2023 National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) working paper found that while lottery wealth had little effect on long-term divorce rates overall, female lottery winners who received the equivalent of about $140,000 were nearly twice as likely to divorce in the short term. The researchers suggested that sudden wealth may accelerate the end of relationships that were already breaking down.
What a blessing
Regardless, the people were amazed by Varela and Monteiro's dispute as they expressed their views under a post by the Daily Mail (@dailymail). @rea_lee7 noted, "What a blessing to receive after a divorce. A new start in life." At the same time, @slubwama noted, "Yeah, the money that bought the ticket was made when they were together."
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