To not ask for money from scratchcard win

[Geauxtigers]

OK this is pretty simple.

I always buy a £1 scratchcard to put in people's birthday cards. I've been doing this for over a decade. Last month a good friend won a decent 4 figure sum on the scratchcard I put in their card.
My husband thinks I should ask for half of it because I bought it for them.
But in my opinion I bought the scratchcard as a gift and in doing so was opening myself up to the possibility of them winning a lot of money.

If I hadn't been buying it as a gift I wouldn't habe bought the scratchcard so it's not like I bought a roll of 5 and gave them the winning one. My husband and I never argue but he's really pushing me to ask on this one. We aren't rich but we also aren't struggling so I don't know why he's so insistent that I ask for some of it.

If it was me I would offer half to the person who bought me the card, but this is because I'm fairly financially stable and I don't know the financial status of this friend but I'd suspect its not as good as ours.

So am I being unreasonable to just celebrate the win with my friend and not ask her for some of the money?

*she did say when she told me she'd won "We'll have to go put for a meal, babysitter and dinner on us" which I personally thought was lovely

[BasiliskStare]

@Geauxtigers - sounds good - presents are presents - lovely that this one came out well. And lovely of friend to treat you. & that DH and you speak . I will say here do not LTB. not much of a B. I once gave a friend of mine some money as she was on her uppers - never expected it back. but she has done nice things for me so that is all OK Another friend I gave some furniture to - and she said she would give me a garden voucher ( my garden is smaller than some dining tables ) - never seen it but she did send me a photo of her DH sitting in 4 figure chair with other stuff I have given her - Ach well - It was a gift so I will not complain bt she did say she would do a tiny thing in return - not happened - I am fine but it would have been nice. ( I know it does not sound so )

[MasterBeth]

Your husband is nuts.

[HannahMariaS]

Definitely cannot ask...it was a gift. If you were to buy someone a gift voucher for a shop you wouldn't ask them to buy you some stuff out of it..you husband is being unethical and especially if you are not in financial hardship

[BigYellowHat]

How much did they win? Was is more or less than £10k? I guess the exact amount might be outing if they’re on here.

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

How much did they win? Was is more or less than £10k? I guess the exact amount might be outing if they’re on here.

OP said four figures, so yes, less than £10K. I don't think the amount overly matters, though - we know we're not talking a fiver or a million: a decent amount but probably not long-term life-changing.

[WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll]

I suppose one way of looking at a scratchcard might be similar to if you'd given a gift voucher. You've decided to spend a set amount on something that limits where they can spend it/what they can buy, and it's then up to them to get the best value they can/want with that voucher.

You could have given a £20 gift voucher for a shop that subsequently has a stock liquidation 'everything 10% of its original price' sale, meaning that the recipient can get £200 worth of stuff with the voucher. Then again, they could put it in a drawer, the shop goes bust and thus it proves worthless.

If it's within the shop rules, they could even spend part of the voucher on a scratchcard or lottery ticket and win a million! They could put £20 of their own money to it and buy 20 lottery tickets - one of which wins the jackpot and the other 19 get nothing, so you'd never actually know whether you 'enabled' them to scoop a fortune from your gift or if it turned out to be worthless!

Equally, they could buy something with the voucher and keep it safe and pristine for 30 years, until it becomes a highly sought-after collectors' item and worth a shedload of money - should you have a claim on their 'profit' from the voucher you gave them?! What if they used it to buy what they believed was a collectors' item and it turned out to be a fake/very common - is it your responsibility to make good their loss?!

Far too many variables; but basically, once you give a gift, you no longer have any rights whatsoever to the gift or what it subsequently becomes worth.

[StrawberrySanta]

I had this conversation with my mum recently and I said if someone got me a scratchcard as a present which won 1k I would offer half to the person who bought it as I just feel that's the right thing to do. I'm not saying your friend is in the wrong but I don't think it's that much of a crazy thought. Fair enough he sulks for a bit but then he needs to accept it and move on

[FridayiminlovewithRobertSmith]

It was a gift and although fantastic under £10k isn’t life changing. She’s made a kind offer which is what I’d do. As gifter or recipient it wouldn’t cross my mind to share.

[TheGoogleMum]

Yes you have it right. Its lovely if she wants to treat you but the scratch card was a gift and shouldn't have been given with conditions or expectations

[ememem84]

so nice of your friend to treat you.

absolutely not would i be asking for any of the winnings.

dh would be the type to suggest this though. he was appalled when he found out that in our work lottery syndicate at christmas there was one person not in it. their choice not because they were excluded. this person thought that if we as a collective won, we'd split the winnings with them as well. I told dh this and was all "of course we wouldn't how silly of them to even think it" dh suggested it wasn't fair on them and why should 19 out of the 20 of us benefit. we should share all the winnings equally. nope.