Aunt to Nephew After $1.2 Million Lotto Win: 'See You in Court'
8:41 AM PDT, July 13, 2018 - Inside Edition Staff
A Canadian family has been torn apart following a $1.2 million lotto victory in Nova Scotia.
Barbara Reddick and her nephew, Tyrone MacInnis, posed for cameras Thursday with their giant check and massive new fortune, but the two family members are now feuding over the win.
The lotto ticket was acquired from the Chase the Ace fundraiser, benefiting two local fire departments.
For the fundraiser, people bought tickets as they would in a 50-50 draw. If their ticket was drawn, they got a percentage of the sales. If they drew the lucky ace of spades, they would win the jackpot.
Reddick says she bought the ticket. Her nephew claims they had agreed to split the earnings if they won big, but she says otherwise, according to reports.
"It was my ticket," she said at the ceremony. "I bought the ticket and now he's trying to lie and say I said split. I said split with the 50/50, not with no Chase the Ace."
She then told her nephew, "See you in court!"
"I'm taking him to court," she told reporters. "I'm getting a lawyer tomorrow. Now you can print that."
She denies they had an agreement but the nephew insists they did.
"I put his name on the ticket for good luck because he's like a son to me — he was," she said. "He was lucky, but not for half a million dollars."
Bernice Curley, chair of the Margaree Forks Chase the Ace committee, was stunned, saying there were two names on the ticket and she wrote a check to each for half the winnings.
"I can't really explain it," she told CBC News. "I didn't expect anything like that to happen. I just came to deliver the checks and present them to the winners. I'm a little bit disappointed that happened at the end."
Are These the Luckiest Lottery Winners Ever?
Woman Wins Lottery Twice in One Day, Thanks to 'Gut Feeling'
Lottery Ticket Caught in Machine Leads to $22,000 Win for Kansas Couple