The two half-brothers haven’t spoken since the lawsuit was filed in the summer of 2013.
Two estranged half-brothers were this week told they must split a winning $1 million lottery ticket.
A Pennsylvania jury decided on Wednesday that the two must equally divide the winnings from a $1m lottery ticket, after one of them claimed he deserved all the money and the other insisted he was due half of it.
Ira Sharp, 52, and Charles Meehan, 45, both of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, fought over the ticket since it was purchased on May 21, 2013, at a local bar in Pennsylvania.
Mr Sharp maintained that he had given a $20 bill to Meehan to buy the ticket with the understanding that they would split the money if they won.
It took less than an hour for the Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas jury to decide that the two brothers had a valid oral contract to split the winnings.
“Once they said ‘yes’ to that, the rest was easy,” said R. Mark Thomas, Mr Sharp’s lawyer.
However, Douglas Miller, Mr Meehan’s attorney, said both he and his client were disappointed by the verdict.
“We know there wasn’t a contract. Unfortunately, the jury didn’t believe that,” Mr Miller said.
The brothers have not spoken since Mr Sharp filed the lawsuit in the summer of 2013.
Tax issues will complicate the division of the winnings, according to both lawyers. When Mr Meehan cashed in the ticket the morning after buying it, the Pennsylvania Lottery automatically deducted 25% for federal taxes, leaving him $750,000.
Mr Miller said Mr Meehan then subsequently paid $114,000 in additional taxes, leaving $636,000. The remainder has been tied up by court order since the summer of 2013.
Mr Thomas wants his client to receive $500,000 of the remainder and pay his own taxes on it. However, this means that Mr Meehan would therefore need to petition the IRS to return some of the money which has already paid in taxes. According to his lawyer, Mr Miller – this is a complicated process.
This week in England, a waiter and his boss were ordered by a judge to split a £1 million winning lottery ticket.
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