Nephew not allowed to spend Chase the Ace winnings until lawsuit resolved

A judge has ruleda Glace Bay, N.S., man being sued for more than $600,000 by his aunt over a Chase the Ace jackpot is not allowed to spend the money until the court case is resolved.

Barbara Reddick is suing her nephew Tyrone MacInnis over the $1.2-million jackpot, which was won in July as part of a Margaree Forks, N.S., fundraiser.

Reddick paid for the ticket but asked MacInnis to buy itfor her. She said she asked him to put his name on the ticket for good luck, but said they never had an agreement to split the jackpot.

Since there were two names on the ticket drawn on July 12, organizers of the contest split the winnings and wrote separate cheques of $611,319.50 to both Reddick and MacInnis.

Reddick's lawyer, Adam Rodgers, filed the lawsuit on his client's behalf in July in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Port Hawkesbury.

He filed a motion for a preservation order to prevent MacInnis from spending any of the money until the case is legally resolved. Justice Patrick Murray granted that order on Monday in Port Hawkesbury.

Murray said he decided to freeze MacInnis's share since if he lost the case it's unlikelythe second-year student at Cape Breton University would be able to pay the money back on his wages working at Tim Hortons.

'He broke my heart'

Outside of court, Reddick said "I feel good" about the judge's decision on the preservation order.

Though Reddick is free to spend her share of the money, she said she hasn't done so yet. She said she hasn't spoken to her nephew.

"He broke my heart," she said.

She said that before MacInnis claimed half the jackpot, she had intended togivehim $150,000 of the winnings.

When asked whether it's worth going through a lawsuit, Reddick said she believes it is "for the principle." She said she doesn't believe her relationship with her nephew will ever be repaired.

The case could now go to mediation, and Murray set a possible date ofSept. 17 for a settlement conference.

"We'll sit down, everybody with a judge, and try to work out a settlement that makes everybody happy, butthat's to be determined how the parties approach it," said Rodgers.

The settlement conference will take place in judges chambers and will not be open to the public.

Read more articles from CBC Nova Scotia here.

With files from Gary Mansfield