Question

Buddy and Peggy-Sue are friends. They agree that it would be fun and add spice to their otherwise tedious Saturday evenings if they jointly purchased lotto tickets for the Saturday night draw each week. Initially they purchased the ticket together, with either Buddy giving Peggy-Sue $5 each Friday so that she can purchase the $10 ticket or Peggy-Sue giving Buddy $5 so that he can purchase it. Over the last four weeks Buddy has purchased the ticket on his own and Peggy Sue has given him the $5 when they meet on Saturday evening or on the following Monday. Last Friday Buddy purchased the ticket for $10. Peggy-Sue did not meet up with Buddy on the Friday or the Saturday as she had to work but Buddy was not bothered as he knew Peggy-Sue would give him $5 when they next met. However, on Saturday evening Buddy is delighted to learn that the ticket he purchased on Friday has won $1,300,000. When Peggy-Sue meets Buddy on Sunday, and tries to give him the $5, Buddy refuses to accept the $5 saying that the ticket, and the prize money, is all his.

Required: Advise Peggy-Sue, with reasons supported by appropriate authority, whether she could successfully sue Buddy for a half share of the $1,300,000.

Answer 1

Issue:-

Whether there was an agreement to jointly purchase the lottery ticket and to share the proceeds ?

Legal Principle and Authority:-

In case of an agreement there has to be an offer , acceptance and valid consideration for both the person who is making the offer and the person who is accepting the offer . Once there is an agreement both the parties to the agreement can sue each other and enforce penalities on each other .

Application:-

Here Buddy & Peggy-Sue are the two parties who have entered into an agreement where they will buy loterry tickets every friday and buying price will be shared equally . The consideration here is "fun and added spice to their otherwise tedious evenings" . As far as sharing of proceeds is concerned it is not specfied and it be only implied as ticket price was logically shared as half paid by one party and half paid by the other party . Agreement is valid because both have been consistently sharing the buying price of the lottery .

Conclussion:-

Here Peggy-Sue can sue Buddy because there was a valid agreement for a valid implied consideration .