Mega-Sena: when is it necessary to split the prize? Understand the rules
The TJSC (Court of Justice of Santa Catarina) decided this Monday (29) that a man from Blumenau, in the interior of the state, must share part of the prize he received in the Mega-Sena with a former partner after recognizing that the two had a verbal agreement to place bets together and share any winnings.
The decision involves a share of a prize of R$117.5 million drawn in May 2022 and was evaluated based on informal agreements between those involved.
The winner participated in a 42-odd game in his city, but was ordered to pay R$ 1,294,491.32 to the plaintiff, who proved in court the existence of an agreement to divide the prizes obtained from joint bets.
How do Mega-Sena jackpots work?
The official Mega-Sena jackpots follow rules established by the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance and Caixa Econômica Federal.
In this modality, a group of people participate in the same bet by purchasing shares. If the game is awarded, the amount received by each participant corresponds to the number of shares acquired, a division that is recorded at the time of the bet.
The Mega-Sena also works using the apportionment system, that is, the prize allocated to the winners is calculated based on a portion of the contest's revenue that is divided among all bettors who match the six numbers. There are also prizes for those who match five (corner) and four numbers (court).
As the division of the prize in the official prize pools is already foreseen in the rules of the sport, there are normally no discussions about the participation of each member.
When can the Court determine the division of the prize?
The situation is different when the bet is made informally between friends, family or couples.
In these cases, the Court may recognize that there is a right to divide the prize whenever it is proven that there was an agreement to place bets together and share any winnings.
This was the understanding adopted by the TJSC, in which the judges concluded that the relationship between the parties included the habit of placing bets in partnership and that there was a commitment to divide the amounts obtained if one of the bets was awarded.
According to the decision, verbal agreements also produce legal effects when their existence is demonstrated by sufficient evidence.
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In addition to being obliged to pass on part of the prize, the winner was also ordered to pay court costs and legal fees.
What evidence can prove the agreement?
The judgment shows that it is not necessary to have a written contract for the Court to recognize the right to share the prize.
Among the elements that can prove the existence of a partnership are:
- messages exchanged via chat applications;
- recordings and notarial minutes;
- police reports and other documents;
- testimonies from witnesses that confirm the habit of placing bets together;
- financial transactions that demonstrate recognition of the obligation to share the prize.
In the case analyzed by the TJSC, one of the factors considered most relevant was the fact that the winner made partial payments to the author shortly after receiving the award. For the judges, this conduct reinforced the existence of the agreement previously signed between them.
Source: CNN