An Italian lottery player in Lombardy who won a jackpot of 223,173,416 euros faces a legal claim from his separated wife demanding half the prize.
The man recently hit the massive jackpot in northern Italy while living apart from his wife. However, because the couple have not yet finalized their official divorce, Italian law could force him to split the 223 million euro windfall with his former partner.
Under Italian civil legislation, assets acquired before a divorce is formally registered can remain subject to marital property claims. The winner's estranged wife has filed a claim for half of the total jackpot on the grounds that their marriage remains legally active.
Legal contrast with French family law
The high-profile Italian dispute has sparked widespread attention over how lottery winnings are divided during marital breakdowns, prompting legal experts to examine how such cases are handled across European jurisdictions, including neighboring France.
If a player in France won a major jackpot while going through a separation, the legal outcome would be entirely different. Under French law, a spouse in the process of separating when they win the top prize may be permitted to keep the entire sum exclusively.
Speaking to French television news channel LCI, family law attorney Jérôme Boursican explained the statutory protections provided to separating couples under the French Civil Code. Boursican said that a French judge has the legal authority to fix the effective date of a divorce judgment to the exact moment when the spouses ceased to cohabit or collaborate.
According to Boursican, this legal mechanism means that the informal separation date takes precedence over the official date when the final divorce decree is issued. As a result, any financial jackpot or property acquired after the couple stopped living together remains the sole property of the individual winner.
Matrimonial property and regional context
Lombardy is an administrative region located in northern Italy where statutory civil laws dictate the division of spousal assets. In France, domestic legal matters are governed by the Civil Code, which sets out clear guidelines on marital property and separation.
LCI is a major French news broadcasting network that regularly covers legal and financial developments. While the Italian lottery winner remains locked in a dispute with his estranged spouse under Italian statutes, French family law courts continue to prioritize the physical termination of cohabitation when determining asset rights.
