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What procedural error did the Family Court make
A Rhode Island woman has retained a $4 million scratch-off lottery prize after the state Supreme Court rejected her former husband’s attempt to reopen their divorce proceedings. In its June 30, 2026, ruling, the Rhode Island Supreme Court upheld the divorce judgment, concluding that the Family Court had the authority to finalise the separation despite an error in the timing of its paperwork. Monteiro, the couple married on November 23, 2007, but separated in 2012 when Monteiro left their marital home and moved to Massachusetts. The Family Court’s general magistrate admitted the error in January 2023, saying it was a ministerial error during the Covid-19 pandemic. A Family Court hearing justice subsequently ruled in her favour in June 2023, according to the Supreme Court’s account.
According to the Rhode Island Supreme Court’s decision in Ana Varela v. The dispute centred on whether the winning ticket was purchased before or after their marriage legally ended, and whether procedural mistakes made during the divorce could invalidate the final judgment. Daniel M. The magistrate did agree the divorce judgment was not void, however, he at first gave Monteiro relief and continued the matter to see if he could get a portion of the lottery winnings. The justice concluded that the court had jurisdiction over the divorce, that the procedural error had not violated Monteiro’s due process rights and that the lottery proceeds were not marital property. The justices ruled that the Family Court had jurisdiction over the couple’s divorce and was authorized to issue both the decision pending entry of final judgment and the final judgment.
A lottery win turns an uncontested divorce into a dispute
Then on September 16, 2021, he filed a motion to vacate the divorce judgment with the Family Court. He claimed that the ticket had been bought before the marriage was legally dissolved and was therefore marital property and should be split between the ex-spouses.