Winner of $188M Powerball Sued By Her Ex-fiance Inmate

I advise lottery players to consider the implications of winning, and strongly recommend that they retain legal and tax counsel BEFORE collecting winnings.  In some states, it is possible to collect lottery winnings through a trust, keeping the actual winner's name confidential from family, friends, and those who are neither.  

An object lesson why such planning is important comes in the case of Marie Holmes, the winner  of the $188 million Powerball jackpot in 2015, which was the largest jackpot winnings in North Carolina history. After taxes, the winnings amounted to $87.9 million. 

Ms. Holmes was certainly a person blessed by the winnings; she was working five jobs when she won.  She stated that she planned to give a portion of her winnings to charities and religious organizations, and to use some of the money to go back to college and buy her mother a house. 

Holmes' ex-fiance, Lamarr Andre McDow, claims that Holmes spent money on generous and lavish gifts for him. McDow alleges that Holmes has given away or sold these gifts after they split up and now he is suing to get them back. 

McDow claims that Holmes breached her fiduciary duty "when she reportedly gave away his 77-acre dirt bike track, his car repair shop and tens of thousands of dollars worth of clothing and jewelry while he was in prison." 

Holmes' defense attorney stated in a motion to dismiss, “This case is the embodiment of the phrase ‘[w]hat’s yours is mine and what’s mine is my own.’ The problem here, however, is that McDow has nothing of his own.”

McDow was convicted of drug trafficking in April 2016 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He is projected to be released in June 2023. 

McDow made Holmes his power of attorney before he went to prison. 

Apparently, McDow heard that Holmes began dating someone else after their split, and began giving away McDow's things. According to McDow's attorney, “Ms. Holmes’ unconditional obligation to act in the best interests of Mr. McDow didn’t stop because Ms. Holmes and Mr. McDow’s relationship ended.” 

As of now, McDow has not responded to the motion to dismiss. 

It seems likely that McDow would not have filed any lawsuit against his ex-fiancée, a person then-working five jobs to make ends meet, but for her good fortune.  No one knows for sure, but one wonders whether a little planning would have avoided the dispute.  Worse, each time Ms. Holmes is "in the news" regarding her winnings, more people people become aware of her good fortune, and might resolve to insinuate themselves in her life in order to realize benefit.  Planning might have avoided these challenges.  

Source: She won $188M Powerball. Now her ex-fiance is suing her from prison, NC lawsuit says, Yahoo News, February 21, 2021.