“My wife has been replaced by an imposter”: After couple wins sizable lottery winnings, wife insists on quitting job, causing husband to consider divorce

Author image for Briana Viser
Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
Apr 6, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Welcome back ladies and gentlemen of the internet. When you're married to someone, you have to include them in all big life decisions. You live together, you share finances, you might even share kids. Basically, you're sort of attached at the hip and you are obligated to include them in your decisions because it will greatly affect their life, not just your own. Money becomes one of the biggest issues in relationships, because sometimes it's hard to see someone else's spending habits when you're just dating. Sure, you go out for dates or coffee, and the guy may pay for you, but what's happening behind closed doors? Do they pay their rent on time? Their credit card bill?

In the story below, the protagonist is a man whose wife won a sizable amount of money in the lottery. Because they are married with shared finances, he assumed that her winnings would also be his own, but she denies his possession of her money. She tells him that it's only hers, and that she's going to quit her job and rely on him. Now, this is a completely different story, so let's scroll below to see what happens between this couple. 

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  • 01

    AITAH for telling my wife we either share our lotto winnings or we separate and I get half anyway?

    "I would've preferred not winning if I knew this was going to happen"
    via fizkes from Getty Images Pro / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    My wife and I are extremely fortunate to have won a decent amount of money from Lotto recently. It wasn't the top prize but it was enough to pay off our (sizeable) mortgage and still have some left over for vacations. The mortgage was by far our biggest weekly cost and with that gone
    via u/LottoIssues
  • 03
    we could both comfortably cut our hours back at work to only school hours and spend some more time with our kids, this was always a daydream we spoke about when we bought lotto tickets, I assumed this is what we would both do.
    via u/LottoIssues
  • 04
    When we got the money and paid off hour house everything almost immediately turned bad. My wife started talking about how amazing it's going to be finally not having to work anymore, I was blindsided by this. Even with the mortgage gone we would still have to work at least school hours
    via u/LottoIssues
  • 05
    to keep our current standard of living, and on my salary alone things would be tight. I asked if she was serious and she said of course, it was her ticket and she gets to decide. This is BS because we both bought lotto tickets before and when we moved in together we only bought one because two seemed like a waste of money.
    via u/LottoIssues
  • 06
    I tried to reason with her, say she could use some of the extra to take some unpaid leave here and there but she needs to keep her job, when I said "if I'm only working school hours" she absolutely flipped and started accusing me of being a gold. digger and ruining this for her,
    via u/LottoIssues
  • 07
    how she deserved it after working so much of her life etc I asked her for a pause because I was honestly afraid, she's never been like this before.
    via u/LottoIssues
  • 08
    713 D WIN-PLA LOTTERY First Draw: 18/01/2022 123-456-00012-347 06 07 12 29 33 QP 10 FEDERAL T KA 3959 Al UNITED ST STATES FC 04701391 B FEDERAL RESERVE NOTE SADA G7 OFA 1620 UNEDS JUICE FAME $2.00 WED JAN18 22 EGAL TENDER AND PRIVATE 987656 123458 123-456-00012-347 A 3959 D Secretary of the Treamery ONE HUND FEDERAL RESERVE HF 22281076 B F6 STATES WHISAS OOI WhE9h02h FEDERAL HELMETS NOT CH18515197 A H8 FOR ALL DE
    via Mehaniq from Mehaniq / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • You'll never see the end of the road while you're traveling with me. Don't dream it's over just because your wife is insisting on quitting her job after winning the lottery. Even if it's a completely unfair deal, and probably financially unwise, maybe it will be the best thing for your future. 

  • 09
    The next few days we tried to have this conversation again but she didn't budge an inch, and when she said "well it doesn't matter now because I'm putting in my notice at work" I lost it and told her I'm not going through with this, if she's not going to share the winnings which is under both of our names I'll divorce her
    via u/LottoIssues
  • 10
    and get half through the house and therefore half the winnings anway, this started another screaming match where she continued to call my a gold digger.
    via u/LottoIssues
  • 11
    I'm absolutely exhausted and lost, I feel like my wife has been replaced by an imposter. I would've preferred not winning if I knew this was going to happen.
    via u/LottoIssues
  • 12
    Jolly Engineer_6688 The good news is that you can afford the divorce. The bad news is that the attorneys will be going on your vacation
    via u/Jolly Engineer_6688
  • 13
    Si... NTA You may have been. able to quit your job in the 1980s but unless you won millions then there's no way that she doesn't need to work.
    via u/Similar_Corner8081
  • 14
    mbpearls My grandfather, who is pretty well off because he lucked into telecommunications at the right time and got into upper management, told me once of a neighbor/friend of his.
    via u/mbpearls
  • 15
    The neighbor was always struggling to make ends meet and seemed to have misfortune after misfortune. Eventually, he was looking at his house being foreclosed on. My grandparents, who considered this neighbor a great friend, realized they
    via u/mbpearls
  • 16
    Cheezburger Image 10490481152
    via Billion Images / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 17
    could help this friend with the money they had accumulated in savings.
    via u/mbpearls
  • 18
    The neighbor was floored, and promised to pay my grandparents back, and even took a second job just to do that. And for a couple years, he paid back every week, on pay day. The amount varied, but like clockwork, he'd get home on Friday and his first stop was handing over cash to my grandfather.
    via u/mbpearls
  • 19
    Then he and his wife won the lottery. It was the grand prize, my grandfather said it was north of $1mil. Within days, they had brand new cars, a boat, a brand new RV, had their house repainted and a new roof put on, and I believe they quit their jobs.
    via u/mbpearls
  • 20
    And he stopped paying my grandfather back. Once he had money, he started spending like it was infinite. My grandfather once asked him about it, and he got waved off, the neighbor saying "yeah yeah, I haven't forgotten about you, but let
    via u/mbpearls
  • 21
    me have a little fun." They took elaborate vacations, went out to eat every day for lunch and dinner, bought cars for their kids.
    via u/mbpearls
  • 22
    In just over a year, they had blown through every cent. The neighbor sheepishly walks up to my grandfather and says they just got their property tax bill, and he's a little short. Grandfather just shook his head and turned away. He said sometimes it's worth losing money to get rid of bad people in your life.
    via u/mbpearls
  • 23
    whocaresgetstuffed You need a lawyer. And fast.
    via u/whocaresgetstuffed
  • 24
    NYCStoryteller NTA. Tell your wife that she's blowing up your marriage with her ridiculousness. Lottery winnings=ijoint Income, and paying off the mortgage is comingling it anyway. She's not walking away from this relationship a winner.
    via u/NYCStoryteller

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marriage drama lottery wife relationships husband lol love family reddit thread Reddit funny money dating
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