What would you do if you won the lottery?

DEAR ABBY: I'm responding to your request for comments about the letter from "Happily Single" and whether a divorce would be the first course of action upon winning the lottery. In a community-property state, a divorce after winning wouldn't legally protect you from having to share the spoils with your soon-to-be (and probably now bitter) ex-spouse.

My husband and I have talked at length about what we'd do if either of us won the Powerball jackpots. We'd start by consulting a lawyer/financial planner to find a way to protect our privacy before claiming the money.

While we all "vent" from time to time, if talking divorce is your first response to a jackpot win, then you're in the wrong relationship.

- In It for the Long Haul

DEAR IN IT: I hit the jackpot with the huge response I received about that letter. And the majority of readers said they would not divorce:

DEAR ABBY: I am a lottery winner, and I feel blessed and proud that I can take care of my wife the way she deserves. Within two minutes of my win I was on the phone with her, telling her to quit her stressful job. We now have a wonderful life, with more than we ever hoped for.

- Satisfied in the Sunshine State

DEAR ABBY: If I won the lottery, the first thing I'd do is get married. We're waiting so we can afford the nice wedding we both want.

- Stephanie in Saugus, Calif.

DEAR ABBY: I wouldn't consider getting divorced if I won, but I might finally buy that second husband I've been wanting but can't afford.

- Tacoma Reader

DEAR ABBY: I've been married for 40 years. If I won I would not divorce. There's NO WAY I'd want to give him half the money. I would stay married so I could have control over the money he spent. It would make up for all the years that he would pinch my pennies and make me squeeze a nickel till the buffalo pooped.

- Wishful in Ohio