Patricia Daly, an Ireland native from Tullamore, Co. Offaly, struck gold with a Quick Pick in the New York State Lottery in January but now faces a battle to hold onto her winnings, with her estranged husband launching a legal bid for what he claims is his rightful share.
(See Long Island waitress wins $21.5M Lotto jackpot, Lottery Post, Jan. 28, 2011.)
Daly, 40, is a single mother of three who emigrated to New York in 1995. She was one of eight players who won a combined $32.5 million, claiming a lump sum of $8 million.
Working as a waitress at The Saloon in Long Beach, New York at the time, Daly had been struggling for years to make ends meet, combining her main job with babysitting to provide for her three boys aged nine, seven and four.
In a twist of fate, bad weather at Christmas had prevented her from returning home to celebrate the holidays in Ireland, but it also kept her in New York to buy the winning lottery ticket. She told reporters at a press conference after the win that the jackpot came "just in time" and said she planned on telling her children, "that mommy got lucky...everything is going to be okay."
Unfortunately for Daly, things are not yet entirely "okay". Now, her husband Jamie Eisel has decided to take legal action against her, demanding half of the winnings even though he had left the family a year before the ticket was bought.
Court proceedings are to begin later this month and the case could reportedly take up to a year to be decided. Daly has already offered Eisel $1 million of the winnings and no further obligations for child support or college fees in exchange for dropping his suit, but he has refused, the Evening Herald reports.
Eisel has taken action to legally restrain Daly from spending any of the winnings until the case has been settled, and has also begun divorce proceedings, with New York divorce law stating that there must be equitable distribution of wealth and assets between married couples.
When Daly won the money, she told reporters that she didn't want it to change the family's life. She planned to continue working at The Saloon and take her children to Disneyland. First on her list though, was a new place to live for her sons.
"I will buy a home, not a house, here in New York," she said at the time. "Something very comfortable with a big fenced in yard that the boys can run around in. I know they'll be thrilled when I tell them we'll also buy a family dog to run around the yard with them."
As of yet, however, she has not received a penny of the $8 million, as a result of her soon-to-be ex-husband's legal maneuvering. The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for September 13.
Thanks to Starr920 for the tip.
All I can say, and I said it when a similar story about the lady won a huge Megamillions jackpot in Idaho, and that is that what's fair is fair. If the jackpot winner was a man who had an estranged wife, I am sure she would go after her half and others would say she is entitled to half the cash. So now that the shoe is on the other foot, I still think it fits. Does it disgust some that just because he is a man who walked out on his family that that somehow makes him unworthy of sharing in her success? Sure, but it doesn't change the legal fact that until two people are divorced, their lives are still legally entertwined. So give that man his half. He is not stupid. She tried to pawn him off by pitching him $1M! I would have done the same thing he did as I would want that additional $4M in my bank accounts. Way to go Mr. Eisel...score one for gender equality! Now time for the name calling jokes...what rhymes with eisel....?
But it must sure blow for her in that she won all those millions and still has to work at that joint just to pay bills...and everyone knows she is a multi-millionaire. Guess that is a lesson for all those out there who are estranged from a partner...go and get that divorce filed and finalized. Had she done that, she would not still be waiting to buy that house 9 months later or wondering how much she is going to end up with. But you have to think that she knew this might happen as she said she planned to continue working. Also, score another win for claiming prize anonymously. Had she claimed as a part of a trust or LLC, the hubby might have never had a clue (this would have also required her to actually not tell her children she won the lottery...just that they need not worry about money.). She should have just filed for divorce before even going in to claim the prize, encouraged a speedy divorce, then claimed the prize. But sometimes people's emotions get the best of them and they act impulsively.
Money on freeze???
OK this is BS. Now, I know life is unfair.
Folks, the law is the law. Pay the guy 50% and MOVE ON!
All these years of financial anguish is not worth it.
Give him half & sue for back and future child support !
It is the American Way !
The Citizens
get poorer and the Lawyers 
get richer !
maybe my dream will come true tonite !!!!!!!!!!
Pay him half, hit him for back child support, future child support and college funds and divorce fees.
I agree with you completely except that New York State is the WORST state to win any Lotto Prize.
Why because NY Lotto requires you to go public and do a press conference with Yolanda Vega.
It's on the 5pm news, it's on Youtube, it's Everywhere!!!
If you don't won't the Man or Woman before you Buy the Ticket better get a Divorce because law is when you are married to that person it is equally theirs too.
I saw the movie "Cheaper to Keep Her" !!!!!!!!!!!
& I do believe this would indubitably be a lovely time of year to cruise about in a new Bentley !
Thanks for posting this article, Todd
Ms. Daly sounds like a very decent woman with a strong work ethic who just wants to take care of her three young children.
IMO this is a case of delayed gratification - I predict the following:
her attorney will continue to milk the case for billable hours;
her husband will end up with half the money (and be broke in a year or two) ; but
in the end Ms. Daly will move back to Ireland with her children and live a very comfortable, financially secure life.
GOD, if You're listening......
I'm partial to him choaking to the here after on a chicken bone.........
I most definately will not mind.
It's not about her (the wife).
It's all about the kids and how they are still being deprived of quality time with their custodial parent because of...........
GREED!!!!!
Heck..... I'll even settle for his hit and fly-away exit by a bird up side the head. (Make it a big-fat-frozen penguin.) lol
I'm not picky....
Nor do I ask for too much.....
Just the unreasonable.......... lol
Well, it sounds like she (and possibly her three young sons) was almost going to Ireland; so apparently she makes great tips, as her family of four wasn't struggling if any of them are able to travel overseas!
I bet their family is glad that no travel tickets were purchased AND that mom didn't quit her great income in tips job!!!
Being married and separated/abandoned OR being divorced has been a problem for past lottery winners who have been forced by a judge to pay half or so (she needs to be sure that the percentage that the lottery headquarters has to pay her estranged husband is paid DIRECTLY via the lottery headquarters though -- making sure the lottery headquarters deducts taxes from BEFORE the distribution to each her and her husband). Marriage and divorce (even when not recent) are still sticky situations, sad!!!
I hope that this multi-million dollar winner's husband will spend some of these lottery win monies on his three children (if they are his biological or adopted children). Perhaps if the kids would enjoy it, their entire nuclear family could go to Disneyland together.
Ms. Daly should not have to pay her estranged jerk anything. He had already left the family a year before so unless he chipped in for the ticket with the other people, what makes him entitled to anything. And why didn't he file for divorce earlier, it seems that he is a money grubbing person to file after he found out that she won. Did he support his family at all, it didn't sound like it from the story I read.
So does this man owe child support or anything else? She even offered him more than a million to end lawsuit so she could buy a nice place for her children to live.
Can she contest the divorce on grounds of desertion? If so, could she file without having to pay him and unfreeze her assests? If it was me I would hire the best lawyer possible & I would not have even offered him anything. I would donate money to specific charities & since the IRS has already taken out taxes, I would also donate gifts to family & friends leave enough money in my acct then put the rest in investments and overseas bank.
Good luck Patricia Daly!! I will be praying for you. The Man Upstairs will be looking out for you.
Sixty yrs. young
I seen Ms.daly on a tv show. Sad she have to go through that but thats the way it is. Most people who win large jackpots be to old to truly enjoy it or their affairs in life is horrible.
Had she claimed as a part of a trust or LLC, the hubby might have never had a clue (this would have also required her to actually not tell her children she won the lottery...just that they need not worry about money.). She should have just filed for divorce before even going in to claim the prize, encouraged a speedy divorce, then claimed the prize.
That would be fraud.
Good chance the maneuvers would cost her even more than a straight jackpot split, after the judge and lawyers got through. I'm thinking there's a story in the archives of someone trying this very thing.
he walked away, nuf said. wonder if he will be killed by falling blue ice
Ditto. Nail him to the wall for leaving her with 3 small children to raise by herself. For that alone, he should forfeit at least 50% of his 50%, then get thrown in jail for failure to pay child support.
AMEN!
Contingent on certain states.
Its not a "Law" per se that all things are equal in a divorce. Feel free to google marital state laws and the dissolution rulings. ANd to answer your next question, hiding of assets during a divorce is not looked well upon by a judge. The guy can now file for alimony ...now aint that a hoot! :)
Yes I detest alimony in all fairness. Its a lame way for either party to be dependent on monetary gain without working for it. But then so is the lottery :)
Like it or not, this man has a case due to the regulations of the good citizens of the state of New York.
time*treat, I am so anti-fraud that I would not propose anything fraudulent. If she wouldn't have gone forward to claim the prize but instead had focused on getting her divorce finalized, she would not have materially had more assets to share at time of divorce. Remember, there is no "lottery registration" requirement that identifies the winner immediately after the winning drawing. The hypothetical fact she would have come forward after the divorce was final would have sufficient plausible deniability to avoid any notion of fraud as there have been many lottery winners who discovered they had won just days before the expiration date approached. My recommendation to not tell children is also sound. Would you want your young children going around telling the world their mommy is a jackpot lottery winner? Children cannot keep a secret and this knowledge not only puts them at risk, but also the family at large. When I win, even my mother would not know I won.
The fact that he left her with 3 small kids should be accounted for in the lawsuit. And as much as I detest him, we don't know the full story - maybe she was mentally abusive to him and forced him to leave.
I don't think he should get half, but the $1 million she originally offered him should suffice. However, after lawyer fees, it will definitely be decreased!
I like that.
No Prenup, you gotta pay, although personally I don't think she should pay him a cent, it's her money, she should be free to do what she wants with it...
I guess if you win a lottery, you would be better off if you are a single. You will collect all the money for yourself and spend or save it as you please.
I agree the man should get half. Men have been complaining about this law of splitting property into two after divorces for the longest time and nobody seemed to care. Maybe now if enough women join in, the legislators will be forced to find a formula that is seen to be fair to both sides.
Also it will force couples to think twice before getting married.
If the shoe were on the other foot (the husband was the lottery winner and the wife estranged from him), she would be expecting and getting half and many here would say she deserves it. Why does that change when it is a man who is asking for half the assets? You simply can't have it one way and not the other as that is blatant discrimination and legal bias...both of which are unconstitutional and against the law. Just because he walked away (do any of you know why he walked away? If not, then I don't think your commentary is informed or warranted) does not make him "the bad guy" who doesn't deserve anything. If he was/is delinquent on child support payments, I am sure he will make amends now that he will get half the proceeds. Another response to time*treat, the fact she had offerred him $1M and forgiveness of any past and future support payments could be seen as a form of bribery. The man is entitled to half the assets; he should get his half and then pay his obligations (if the lottery wants to deduct those automatically and send to appropriate agency for distribution to the wife, so be it). I just find it interesting that people voice such bitterness and hatred against men in situations like this when barely a peep would be uttered if it were the woman. Did anyone see "Pursuit of Happyness?" Chris Gardner was turned away from many a shelter because they only catered to women with children, so if you are a man in the same situation you are just left to fend for you and your child as he had to do on many occasions. So as a man who is usually very objective, the law accords this man half of the assets so that is what he should get and pay what the law requires of him. It is only fair. To say otherwise indicates people are fine with a double standard. I am not.
I've been on the receiving end of comparable situations imposed by schemin' wimmins before. There's a lot of wimmins out there livin' high on the hog in houses I bought for em.
Wimmins can be evil. Lawd have mercy, wimmins can be evil.
But I would rather see this woman get to keep her money and not give it to a man that walked out on his kids.
We're basically on the same page. A lot of people don't get that (in most states) without a pre-nup, whatever is acquired while the marriage is valid (whether or not you're happy with, or even on speaking terms with the spouse) is community property.
A winning ticket bought while the marriage is in force is community property, even if it is cashed after a divorce is finalized.
For a bit of extra spit in the eye, if you are married to someone whose ex is collecting means/income-based alimony, guess who gets a "raise" because of you & your new spouse's jackpot? That's right, the ex.
In some states, part of your regular wages can be taken right out of your pay to go towards your new partners old "obligations" of alimony or child-support.
Time*treat is right. There was a case where a winner (belive it was a man) tried to keep the win secret during a divorce proceeding and the judge awarded the entire prize to the spouse. While waiting to claim the prize might prevent charges of fraud or concealing assets, the asset still exists, is still part of the marital property, and is still part of the settlement. Waiting to claim the prize and then modifying the divorce settlement simply adds more legal fees to the cost of settling the divorce.
Always two sides to the story. What if he walked away from the marriage because he walked in on her with the neighbor? Or his best friend? Give the man half his money. Unless they were divorced, the money should be split.
Walkin' out on an evil woman is one thing but turning your back on your kids is inexcusable.
And this is money that would have been theirs someday.
He shouldn't get a nickle in my book.
He left her so he don't deserves a penny
I hope her attorney goes for back child support, alimony, school fees and everything else
He is clearly a dead beat father if she has a good attorney when they finish settling he want,
have $4Million. The atty fees alone can be 30-35%. I predict he will be broke in 1yr and he
will also more than likely get sued by someone that he knows for something petty, However
you reap just what you sow. I'm going to win the lottery soon and my ex-boyfriend called
me after having several dreams that i won. He asked me to give him money once i win, But
when you have money alot of people change.
Lets not forget...if they are still married there is no childsupport payments. He SHOULD still be paying since he wasn't on the scene...but we don't know if he's been paying or not. If the shoe was on the other foot I would award who ever has the kids. Period. BOTH people are responsible for their kids.
Was there a story...or this one it...where he left her and has a girlfriend....and wife won the lottery and he wants his half. (I faguely remember that story) Anywho...it boils down to who has had the kids and has been taking care of them. Husband or wife...I don't care. If he walked out and didn't look back...it should be hers. If he's been in it every step of the way but couldn't be with HER anymore than it should be 50/50.
Certainly, some of the money will get doled out to the children, on a weekly basis (soon, hopefully, once monies released from lottery headquarters via judge), during the next 15 years, maybe longer.
It would be a good idea for one OR both parents (presuming these three children are also from the husband) to also set up a will, trust, and investment account for each adult and child too, this year.
Exactly...her initial offer of 1mil and forgoing child support was not logical. Give him his legal due but recoup as much as you can from him within legal rights!
I hope my ex's don't want money when I win.
I already bought em all houses.
You are a very kind person ridge and deserve to win before tiggs and his one and only wife of 49 years..We celebrated it on Sept 10th..You must have forgot cause Mr and Mrs tiggs never got a card...It's ok ridge your a very kind person cause you buy wimims houses...
That is WONDERFUL and I hope you have many more!!!
dr you are one of the sweetest people on here and the tiggs couple thank you with love..:)
Sorry I missed it old timer but that date is one of my ex's birthdays (seriously) so naturally a sense of dread comes over me at that time every year.
Where Do I post my forecast numbers ?
You mean like temperatures? On the Weather Channel site.
You can only do lottery prediction numbers here.
Go up to Predictions on the Blue Bar up top.
Mash down on whatever you like.
Welcome to Lottery Post and best of luck to ya cobby!
