Have a question?
033 3772 0409

Legal News

A TV Game show winner spent all his money so as to avoid a share to his estranged wife (3 September 2012)

Date: 03/09/2012
Duncan Lewis, Legal News Solicitors, A TV Game show winner spent all his money so as to avoid a share to his estranged wife

A, 33 year old sign manufacturer who won £50,000 on Deal Or No Deal show had spent all the money before his estranged wife could claim any of it.

Scott Brown who won the money on the TV game show had only four months before the show was screened and his wife came to know of the windfall. So he decided to spend it fast.

The father of two said he used £15,000 to clear all the debts he and his wife Rachel, 29, had from credit card bills, loans and bank overdrafts. He set aside almost £2,000 to cover legal fees for his divorce; he then bought clothing, toys and household items for their two young children. He then used some cash to live off as he was signed off from work because of depression.

But he admitted that he spent mostly on having a good time which included an iPod, a holiday in Mexico and the expenditure of £4,000 on a second-hand X-type Jaguar estate car. And finally he had spent part of his winnings to pay for an electrician’s course to start a new career.

His wife who had asked for a divorce on Christmas Day the previous year when he came to know about her affair with a driver did went to the court to get a part of the winnings as he had suspected.
As soon as the Channel 4 programme was broadcast, she went to court in a belated bid to ensure she received a share.
The case was heard before the district judge at Doncaster County Court last Thursday when Mr Brown was ordered through an injunction to give in writing how he had spent the winnings, and not to spend any more from the windfall till the case was decided.
Outside court, Mr Brown told the Daily Mail how the show, presented by Noel Edmonds, changed his life when he was at his lowest ebb, saying that his happiness new no bounds after he had won the amount but he was told that his estranged wife could lay claim to it so he decided, that she was not getting a penny.
Going back to his past Mr Brown had married customer services adviser Rachel in the Dominican Republic in September 2009.
The couple already had one child, now aged six, and decided to have another baby, now 22 months old. The family moved to rent a bigger house near Doncaster but their debts began to mount. Last year his wife told him that he didn’t love him anymore and he started living with his parents, four months before he even knew that he was going on the game show in April.
He said he was ‘absolutely disgusted’ by his wife, saying he couldn’t fathom how could she lay claim over the money he won in the game show especially when his life had broken apart, not able to see his kids every day anymore and having lost everything that he had worked for over 11 years.
Mrs Brown refused to comment.
On Deal Or No Deal, contestants pick one of 22 sealed boxes containing hidden amounts of cash ranging from 1p to £250,000, then eliminate the other boxes one by one. Mr Brown gambled by turning down offers of £22,250 and £13,000 from the show’s mysterious ‘banker’ to ‘deal’ and quit the game, instead carrying on until the end to win the £50,000 in his box.

Call us now on 033 3772 0409 or click here to send online enquiry.
Duncan Lewis is the trading name of Duncan Lewis (Solicitors) Limited. Registered Office is Spencer House, 29 Grove Hill Road, Harrow, HA1 3BN. Company Reg. No. 3718422. VAT Reg. No. 718729013. A list of the company's Directors is displayed at the registered offices address. Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority . Offices all across London and in major cities in the UK. ©Duncan Lewis >>Legal Disclaimer, Copyright & Privacy Policy. Duncan Lewis do not accept service by email.