The man secured a substantial sum of money only five months after finalizing his divorce.
What would you do if your ex came into a huge amount of money shortly after your divorce?
Eileen Murray found herself in a surprising situation when her ex-husband, Mike Weirsky, won a multimillion-dollar jackpot shortly after their divorce.
The couple had been married for 15 years, during which Mike faced challenges maintaining steady employment.
Throughout their marriage, Eileen took on the role of the primary breadwinner, supporting their household.
For individuals who were financially dependent on their partner during a relationship—like Mike was—alimony may come into play. Alimony requires the primary earner to provide financial support to their ex-partner for a set period, even after the marriage ends.
As explained by WomensLaw.org: “A spouse can be ordered to pay alimony if the judge determines that the other spouse was financially dependent during the marriage, referred to as ‘the dependent party.'”
In the case of Mike and Eileen, Eileen was ordered to pay alimony to her ex-husband for five years following their divorce.
Neither Eileen nor the judge who ordered her to pay alimony could have predicted what would happen just five months after the divorce—Mike would become a multimillionaire.
In 2019, Mike won an astonishing $273 million in the Mega Millions lottery.
After his life-changing win, Eileen opened up to Inside Edition about the situation, including the alimony payments she still owed him despite his newfound fortune.
“To him, [the alimony] is pocket change at this point,” she remarked. “Think about the amount of money he has just won. What I’m paying him is a pittance.”
Understandably, Eileen felt the alimony payments no longer made sense and expressed her desire to stop paying him. However, she made it clear she wasn’t after his lottery winnings.
“I don’t want anyone to misconstrue that I’m coming after him,” she explained. “That’s not what this is about.”
Snippets of Eileen’s Inside Edition interview continue to circulate on social media, sparking lively debates about her situation.
Reacting to Mike’s extraordinary fortune—winning both the lottery and receiving alimony—one person quipped, “He won twice!”
Others felt it would be fair for Mike to share some of his newfound wealth with Eileen, given her years of financial support during their marriage.
“It would be a nice gesture to gift her a little money to make her life easier,” one commenter suggested, adding, “She did support him throughout the marriage.”
Another agreed, saying, “I’d still give her a few mil for supporting him all those years and then move on.”
