Man gifts cousin $70k winning scratchie — but his wife wants it back

A man who gifted each of his family members a scratchie for Christmas says his wife is now demanding he take back a winning ticket that scored his cousin A$70,000.

The man, who appears to be from the US, opened up about his dilemma this week in the popular Reddit group 'Am I The A**hole'.

The man said he gathered with his extended family last week for a belated Christmas party and had bought the scratchies, as he does every year, to give to the adult members.

He said their custom is to exchange “stocking stuffers” — nothing that costs more than US$10.

“Ever since we've had this gathering, I've always bought scratch off lottery tickets for all the adults,” he wrote.

“As you would expect, they are almost always trash,” he said, explaining that most of the time the winnings are small.

“One year my uncle's ticket hit for US$50 and everyone went crazy. It's always a good time.”

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Cousin scores massive win

However, this year, the man’s cousin, 23, scored big when his ticket revealed he had won US$50,000 (A$70,000).

“He holds his ticket up and claims that it just it hit for the max jackpot. Everyone rushes over, a couple of my uncles verify — yep this kid just won $50k.”

“I was f***ing elated. I scooped in him up in a big bear hug and said Merry Christmas you lucky a-hole.

“He was screaming and his mom was actually in tears and whole room was excited. It was literally one of the top ten experiences of my life.”

Sadly, the elation was short-lived.

“I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and I pull it out to see my wife has sent me a text message that says ‘come out to the car’,” the man said.

“I go outside and can tell by her body language she is pissed. She told me there is no way that we are giving my cousin $70k, then starts fussing at me about buying the lotto tickets to begin with.”

“I explain to her that we're not giving him $70k, we gave him a ticket I spent US$5 on. She's not buying [it], and she won't let it go. She is now demanding I go back in there and take the ticket back from him, saying maybe we'll give him some of it.”

The man said that while the winning sum is a lot of money, he is in his mid 40s, has a good career and their only debt is their house.

“[It] would be nice to have but it’s not life-changing money for us,” he said.

'This money would literally change this kid's life'

His cousin, on the other hand, just graduated from college and has been saving up for an engagement ring for his long-time girlfriend.

“His mom is single and was one of those fiercely independent women who refused charity. She took on extra jobs to help him pay for school,” the man said.

“He worked at least two jobs himself while going to school full-time and still managed the dean's list. But he still had to take out loans.”

The cousin has found a job but can’t afford a car or to live close to his office so he will be commuting two hours a day to work.

“This money would literally change this kid's life and frankly I think it couldn't have gone to a better member of my family,” the man said.

However, his wife is not backing down and has barely spoken to her husband since their fight.

“I can't get her to explain why she wants this money so bad other than ‘it's ours and you're not giving it away’,” he said.

'Wife is completely in the wrong'

Reddit users were quick to side with the man and his cousin, deeming his wife to be the “a**hole” in this situation.

“Your wife is completely in the wrong,” one person said.

“Besides, legally there were witnesses who saw you give the ticket to him as a gift and saw him scratch it and subsequently win. Morally and legally it's his money, not yours or hers,” they continued.

“The wife is an absolute nightmare in this scenario. And she doesn't even know why she wants it. Just so ridiculous and disgusting,” another person said.

Others called his wife "greedy" and warned that trying to take back the ticket will “blow up the family for nothing”.

“I hope your wife calms down but it is crazy that she thinks you guys would still have any rights to that ticket and worse that it isn't coming from a place of desperate need (facing homelessness),” a Reddit user added.

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