How to Stay Anonymous by Winning the Lottery
We all have lottery fantasies, right? New cars, boats, … lawsuits, predators and bankruptcies? A winning ticket isn’t necessarily a winning ticket for a happy life, which is why the winner of the January $ 560 Million Powerball jackpot wants to keep his name a secret . But New Hampshire, where she lives, does not allow winners to anonymously claim their winnings, and so she filed a lawsuit in January in an attempt to protect her identity.
States are interested in making the names of lottery winners public to protect the integrity of the game – see, for example, the Iowa security chief who rigged the $ 16.5 million lottery (he was a programmer in the state lottery and apparently did so). something programmed with numbers) and then tried to anonymously claim it.
Only seven states – Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas and probably soon Georgia – allow winners to hide their identities. In a handful of other states, such as California and Wisconsin, winners are completely prohibited from remaining anonymous, “and there are states with gray zones,” says Jason Kurland , an attorney based in East Meadow, New York, who introduced the jackpot winners to the past. Depending on where you live, you can “build trust and hide behind it.” Your lawyer can be the face of the trust. “
This is exactly what New Hampshire’s Jane Doe did, but she had already signed her lottery ticket in her own name and lottery officials refused to allow her to cross out her name and re-sign on behalf of the trust.
Most advisers instruct the winner to sign the ticket immediately, so ownership is unquestionable – does the New Hampshire case mean that the lucky winner of a winning Powerball ticket doesn’t have to sign the back of the ticket? Kurland notes that leaving a ticket unsigned and risking someone (even your lawyer) stealing it is a big risk. His solution? “Sign it, but sign it small. Then you can add trustees or multiple trustees and the name of the trust. “
After you sign up, find a trust and property attorney in your state to advise you. This person should also put you in touch with a financial planner – you are about to owe taxes and will probably want to consider how best to handle charitable donations and gifts to family and friends. “Once you build your team, you can’t go wrong,” says Kurland.
Oh, and the word is mom. Attorney trusts and estates New York Alison Besunder says: “More serious problem occurs when there is verbal (usually frivolous) promise to divide the revenues.” So if you really want to remain anonymous? Keep your mouth shut.