07-08-28-29-31-33 wins; D-I-V-O-R-C-E splits it up
Associated PressWhen Robert Swofford hit the $60-million jackpot, he knew he'd have to give his estranged wife part of the money.
Published January 5, 2005
TALLAHASSEE - It took Robert G. Swofford Jr. more than a month to come forward and claim a $60-million Lotto prize, but he had to take care of some unfinished business - a divorce.
Swofford, a U.S. Postal Service employee from Seminole County, claimed his prize as a $34.7-million lump sum Tuesday, ending weeks of mystery about who won the Nov. 24 drawing.
Swofford, 53, and his wife separated three years ago. But two weeks after the winning numbers were announced (07-08-28-29-31-33), Ann Swofford served him with divorce papers and claimed a share of the prize.
Just before Christmas, the Swoffords and their lawyers hammered out an agreement. She will get $5.25-million and $1-million will be set aside to support their 11-year-old son. Swofford told lottery officials he checked his ticket and realized he was the winner on Thanksgiving Day, just before he went to work a 12-hour shift at the post office as a forklift operator.
He said he told only friends about his win, but within a couple of weeks word of it was all over his workplace. He since has taken a leave of absence.
Swofford said he remembered reading about a California divorce case where a lottery winner kept it a secret.
"A judge heard about it after he had settled the divorce case and took the husband to the cleaners and made him pay everything he had left out of his lottery winnings," Swofford said. "I feel peaceful. She has money to, you know, raise my son and I feel that I am contributing to the welfare of my son."
Swofford told lottery officials he would use some of his winnings for a tithe to his church and to indulge his desire for a Dodge Viper.
Ann Swofford could not be reached for comment.
The Swoffords' agreement may have avoided a potentially contentious legal battle.
Tampa divorce attorney Joe Registrato said if a spouse won the lottery before the petition for divorce was filed, the other spouse would have a case for seeking half the winnings because it would be considered marital property.
"It seems to me he'd have to disclose that he'd won money, and he'd have to disclose it as part of the divorce," Registrato said. "If he didn't disclose it, then the divorce could be set aside."
But if a spouse won the money after the divorce petition was filed, he or she might be entitled to the entire windfall.
"That could be very dicey," Registrato said. "It could be separate property, and he'd have a real strong argument."
Times staff writer Leonora LaPeter contributed to this report.