ROCKFORD, Ill. -- Charles Morris wasn't so lucky when it came to love.
His marriage to Mercedes Thomas basically lasted two years before the couple separated in 1969.
Mr. Morris, 53, of Rockford, tried to divorce Ms. Thomas once, but his wife wouldn't go for it, he said in court papers.
Another time, he said, he consulted with a lawyer about filing for divorce only to learn that he couldn't afford the legal fees.
When Mr. Morris finally had enough money for a divorce in 1992 -- a year after winning $2.89 million in the Illinois Lottery -- his estranged wife demanded part of the windfall.
In a recent ruling, the Illinois Appellate Court sided with Ms. Thomas. The court said that Mr. Morris must turn over a portion of his lottery winnings to Ms. Thomas, even though they haven't lived together as husband and wife for 25 years.
"To recognize only the two years that the couple lived together . . . is to view the physical separation as a common-law divorce. . . . This is not permissible," the Appellate Court said in overturning a Winnebago County court ruling that had sided with Mr. Morris.
The appellate court stopped short of divvying up Mr. Morris' winnings. It left that to the lower court in Rockford.
Mr. Morris' lawyer, Paul Cicero, predicted that Winnebago County Circuit Judge Richard Vidal would be kind to his client. After all, Judge Vidal originally ruled that Ms. Thomas didn't deserve any of the lottery proceeds.
"I don't think she's going to get very much," Mr. Cicero said.
Mr. Morris received his first lottery check in November 1992, and is expected to receive about $70,000 after taxes yearly for 20 years.
He declined repeated requests to be interviewed. But his former wife, who is living with her father in Rockford until the court proceedings are completed, said she deserved at least 40 percent of the lottery winnings. She said she endured years of Mr. Morris' broken promises.
"I've been through the mud with this man," said Ms. Thomas, 45.
"He kept promising me we'd live in a nice house and take trips. He'd talk about Hawaii, and say, 'I'll take you there one day.' One day never came. The whole purpose of this is to teach him a lesson."