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A falling out between sisters is the basis for a suit claiming half of a $500,000 Connecticut lottery jackpot, a lawyer said.
The Hartford (Conn.) Courant reported sisters Theresa Sokaitis of Cromwell, Conn., and Rose Bakaysa of Plainfield, Conn., both of whom were avid small-amount gamblers, entered into an pact in 1995 to split any lottery winnings they might have.
Sokaitis sued Bakaysa in 2005 for the half million dollars she won in a Powerball drawing, which she split with a third sibling, Joseph F. Troy Sr., of Plainville, Conn.
Sokaitis appealed a state trial court's 2006 ruling the contract was unenforceable, and the decision was reversed by the state appellate court, which held the mutual agreements of the sisters to share in winnings constituted consideration for the contract, but did not rule on the validity of the deal.
The state Supreme Court agreed and the case will go to trial, possibly within the next six months, the newspaper said.
Sokaitis' lawyer, Sam Pollack, said Sokaitis knew her sister must have a winning ticket when she read the numbers in the newspaper – the same numbers she and her sister had played for 10 years.
Pollak said, "She definitely felt betrayed. What hurt her the most was the sister part of it, the money was secondary. When she found out her sister was sharing the winnings with another sibling, it was a real evil twist that made things even more confusing."
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