Sisters Battle Over Powerball Jackpot

It was bound to happen; a lottery jackpot triggering a massive family feud. Rose Bakaysa of New Britain Connecticut and her younger sister Theresa Sokaitis are locked in a fierce court battle over a %500,000 Powerball jackpot. News reports say that the estranged sisters sign a contract saying they would split gambling winnings but that one sister tore up the contract and now refuses to share the big lottery win. Bought the winning lottery ticket in 2005 and now refuse to share with sister Theresa Sokaitis, of Middletown. Sokaitis took the issue to court saying that the two had a written contract to equally divide all gambling winnings. Bakaysa says she believes the contract ended after the two sisters became estranged in 2004.

Sokaitis said that she and her sister used to gamble frequently and would play the same lotto numbers and would play slot games and cards at Foxwoods Resort Casino. The sisters signed the agreement in 1995 after Sokaitis won $160,000 at the casino and split it with Bakaysa. Sokaitis was unaware of her sister's big win until her daughter received a $10,000 gift from her aunt. In court Sokaitis said, "I told her I felt I deserved a share of the money and she told me I wasn't going to get a dime." Sokaitis also told the court "I said, 'I have a contract" to which her sister replied, "I tore mine up." Sokaitis did admit that her sister had been generous in the past helping her to pay for her children's education and helping her get a repossessed car back. Brother Joseph Troy Sr. told the court he heard his sisters tell each other over the phone they would no longer be gambling partners.

Attorney Sam Pollack, who represents Sokaitis, stated, "Pursuant to our contract, the 1995 agreement, if there was any money won in the future by either Theresa Sokaitis or Rose Bakaysa, they had to share their winnings with the other sister. So she needed to share her winnings, whatever she won; scratch ticket, lottery, Powerball." Bakaysa's attorney William Sweeney countered, "The issue that we've tried to present today is whether or not by their actions the parties rescinded the contract, and I believe that the testimony that was offered, that said I'm not going to be your partner anymore and somebody agreeing to that, rescinds that decision."

Earlier a judge had dismissed Sokaitis' lawsuit saying that under Connecticut law gambling contracts are illegal but a Supreme Court decision that said since the agreement covered a legal activity (lotteries0 the case could proceed. This should be a lesson to anyone who enters into any gambling contract. It is a real shame when money tears a family and long term relationships apart.