Woman who bought her nephew’s winning lottery ticket divides the web after she asks for some of the prize money

An aunt who gave her nephew a winning lottery ticket for his birthday has sparked an online debate after she asked for some of the cash.

A woman has divided opinion online after she bought her nephew a winning lottery ticket – then asked for some of the cash.

The aunt shared her situation on Reddit, explaining she’d fallen on hard times and was living hand-to-mouth as she tried to pay her bills.

She said: “I have had a really rough year, laid off from my job and I’m out of unemployment options.

“I do own my house and managed to scrape by to pay my property taxes and insurance with odd jobs but I am eating ramen just about every meal.”

But as it was her nephew’s birthday earlier this month, she “scraped together” some change to buy him a present, and got the only thing she could afford – lottery tickets.

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To her shock, he won a substantial amount of money, saying: “The second one was actually into the middle five figures.”

“I mean life-changing money. (I can’t say exactly how much because in our state lottery winners are all public record.)”

While she was happy for her nephew, she explained her sister and her husband are “very well off”.

“My nephew has a fully funded college fund and every material thing he could ever want.”

After finding out about the win, she got in touch with her sister and asked if her nephew could give her at least three-quarters of the winnings.

The aunt said: “She asked if I was serious. I said I felt I was being very generous because I really need all of it.

“She actually hung up on me. I texted my nephew and I think he actually blocked me.”

She continued to make the case for her position, saying: “Here’s the thing, I NEED this money. It’s a matter of me eating or not eating. He doesn’t.

“Am I the a***hole for thinking he should share the winnings of the gift I gave him?”

A woman has asked if her nephew should share the winnings.

Her post has had hundreds of comments, as some people understood her position, while others branded her ‘entitled’.

One person said: “YTA Could you get more entitled? You don’t get any of his present, regardless of your situation and his.”

Another wrote: “It’s rough that you’re having such a hard time, but it was a gift. No takebacks.”

A third pointed out: “Don’t give lottery tickets as presents if you aren’t willing to give up the potential of a win.”

And being more understanding, someone else commented: “I am sorry, I understand you are in a terrible financial situation, however, you gave the lottery ticket to your nephew as a present, so it’s his and you have no claim to it.

“Imagine if you gave him $50 for his birthday and he got a lottery ticket himself, would you still expect him to share?”

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This story was originally published on The Sun and is republished with permission