Anyone have any idea why ownership  of a ticket would be in question?  I thought possession was 9/10 of the law, unless it was signed by someone other than the person trying to cash it.

Mabey someone said,  "hey, get me a ticket while you're at the store, here's my numbers....."  and now friendly neighbor, has other ideas.

Unless it was signed by someone other than the person cashing it, they should just see it as a bearer instrument. Phone calls from the area it was sold, pft!!

"Unless it was signed by someone other than the person cashing it, they should just see it as a bearer instrument."

Whatever cash you have in your wallet is also a bearer instrument, but that doesn't mean I become the owner just because I manage to move it from your pocket to mine. 

There could be all sorts of reasons why there's a dispute, but apparently there isn't a single reporter who didn't think their story was finished after simply saying there's a dispute over ownership. Google news turns up a dozen sources, but  they're just minor variations on 2 or 3  stories, and not a one of them says anything about why there's a dispute. The lottery is planning a press conference to announce the winner at 3:30, so maybe some details will come out. Then, maybe the lawsuits will start.

A ten multiplier is comming to Powerball for the month of April

Now thats something to party about!

It could be that the person claiming the ticket also bought tickets for others  too and couldn't decide which ones belonged to him until after the drawing.  This has happened before and usually has to be investigated before the money is released.

What is with Boise? Everytime you turn around there's another winner there. Are these all quick picks? Too bad Boise is about 50000 miles away.

Far as I'm concerned, the person presenting the ticket (and there is no implication that the ticket isn't genuine, according to the story) is the owner.  THat person gets the million.

I the person bought the ticket for someone else, and now decided to keep it, that's life. 

Never let anyone else buy a lottery ticket for you.

I just heard an update that 4 people are claiming the ticket that was sold at a Maverik in Boise, and the courts will have to decide.  All 4 people have ties to the Maverik where the ticket was purchased the day AFTER the drawing.  Customer bought $20 ticket, it wasn't right, so the store took it back.  It laid there till the day after the drawing, then a clerk saw it was a winner and bought the ticket. 

I'd post a link but I don't think I've been here long enough.  I can't find the guidelines on that.  Anyway, go to ktrv dot com and click on "Courts To Decide Who Gets $1 Million Powerball Winnings"

In what part of the United States do you live?  Boise is almost in the middle and I didn't think you could be 50000 miles away from it and still be in the western hemisphere as the crows fly.

Here's the story about the other parties: 

"Two days later, the Maverick corporation filed a claim for the winnings. That same day, the clerk who mistakenly printed the quik pick showed up at the lottery office, insisting the powerball prize was hers.

She also presented lottery officials with a copy of Maverick's lottery policies and procedures --which state employees will be financially responsible for any lottery tickets missing and not accounted for. According to that document, it would appear that she would be the rightful owner. But that is now up to a 4th district court to decide."

The policy saying an employee is financially responsible for missing merchandise is illegal, but the ticket wasn't missing or unaccounted for anyway, so the clerk who almost sold the ticket has no claim.

Unless the store's policy on sales of lottery tickets covers this situation and the policy was violated I'd say the store is also SOL, but I'm sure they'll claim that they were the owner and the ticket wasn't for sale. That leaves the employee who recognized that the store had merchandise for sale at a price that made it a good buy. If that employee is awarded the prize it will be interesting to see what the IRS does. Since the deal to share was made after the ticket  became worth a million bucks the IRS may believe it was a gift of $500,000.

"All these big winners reinforce the value of players selecting the PowerPlay option to maximize their winnings"

LOL! Yeah what they don't tell you is how much money this is costing milions of "losers" just for the one "lucky winner" to get the whole pot. I am usually disgruntled I wasted a dollar per game, I sure as heck ain't going to make it $2.00. I did enough of that on LFL and Match 6 so far, and now Mix and Match is following the same suit. But I feel as though I will win one of them very soon...

Except the eventual winner won't have any money left, cuz now it's all going to the lawyers. 

This has lessened my opinion of the Maverik stores.  I don't think they should be trying to claim the ticket.  They got their $50k for selling the ticket, they need to butt out of it now. 

Wouldn't the ticket be invalid, because the day of purchase has expired?