What if you get in a fatal car accident on the way to claim the jackpot? If you live your life based on "what ifs", ultimately, no amount of money is going to make you happy. You are going to be constantly waiting for the "other shoe to drop".  That ain't livin'.

Illegal immigration is a bad thing.....ask any Indian.

What frivoulous lawsuits are they referring to?

Is it a fact that taxes can be saved by claiming the jackpot as a partnership?

True but the whole point of waiting months is for security of your winnings, and I'm just saying waiting till the "last minute" doesn't sound very secure to me

Being in a health professions occupation you are always a target.  Joe Schmoe finds out his pharmacist is a few million dollars richer, and decides to sue him just to see what he can get.  People make stuff up all the time.

I've heard that you can be sued by a burglar if he gets hurt by things on your property while he is trespassing.  But maybe that's an exaggeration.

She didn't wait until the last minute to collect her winnings.She waited about 3 months so she could get her "ducks in a row".Most states allow you a year to collect your winnings,some only allow you 6 months.I don't know of any that only allow 3 months.

Rushing to the lottery headquarters the very next day won't gain you anything either.It takes up to two weeks to verify a MM or PB ticket and you'll have to wait to get your money.

It takes two weeks? Please.

It takes four to six weeks to: 1- validate the tickets authenticity 2- Verify the ticket claimants information with a full background check. (Past taxes due, any outstanding warrants, child support, you get the jist) 3- Collect the funds 4: setup proper dispersement to the claimants 5: Initiate the bank check for deposit or guarantee of funds.

The point of the story is two fold: THe lady followed sound advice and she did things in a manner that safe guards her funds and her family intentions.  As to RICH folks having slews of advisors, the best advice I hurd was from Oprah who still reviews all her financial holdings and writes her own checks! The greatest flaw she has seen by folks with money is entrusting a group of advisors to handle the money and ensuring persons they are secure. Most stars who have filed bankruptcy did so because they allowed a team of experts to handle their funds, and skim in the process.

During those 4 to 6 weeks I see nothing wrong with sending the ticket in to be processed whilst getting sound advice. If I cant figure out what to do with millions in that time, then by golly I got some family members who will remind me!.

I couldn't find out how long it takes to collect your check from Mega Millions,but Powerball checks ARE cut in two weeks from the time you show up at the lottery office to collect.You can find this information on the Iowa Lottery website.It's in adobe acrobat format and I can't seem to pull up a link to it.I can't imagine that it takes Mega Millions 4-6 weeks to do what Powerball does in 2 weeks,but I suppose its possible.

The rest of your post makes sense to me.I wouldn't trust many people to manage my money.If these so-called experts are so good at managing money,why aren't they retired living in luxory on a south pacific island?

Feadogger

Massachussets and some other states (what are they thinking) have "Forced-to-flee" laws, i.e., if an intruder enters your home you are forced to flee so as not to harm them.  

There is a huge difference between accumulated wealth and over night wealth.  People accumulate wealth by making smart business decisions and hire financial advisers to protect their personal wealth. They don't just hand their personal wealth over to a team of financial advisers and say "have fun".

"That it took three months is a rarity. She spent the time to work with lawyers and financial advisers to maintain anonymity and protect assets"

Maybe it's just me, but if wanted maintain anonymity, I wouldn't attend the press conference and certainly wouldn't want it to be known that I was a pharmacist that lived or worked near a gas station at 851 S. Sutton Rd. in Streamwood.  I wonder how many people saw her picture and said  "hey I know her".

"The team helped the family create the JYS Family Limited Partnership and put together entities to keep the winner's identity from the public, and shield the money from some taxes, creditors and frivolous lawsuits while providing for her, her husband, children and any future grandchildren, Kuenster said."

This is how people that accumulated wealth separate their personal assists from business assists to protect them from future business failures. This jackpot winner has divided the winnings into shares in a limited partnership that will probably be distributed to family and friends. Probably one of the better ideas I've seen for sharing the winnings.

"If the average income is just about where you are now, I highly recommend that you change your circle of friends...IMMEDIATELY!!!"

Somebody spends a lifetime making good friends and your suggesting your friends are no longer good enough for you because you hit the jackpot. Good luck with making new friends at the Country Club that has a group of people that accumulated wealth. Ever hear of the Jed Clampett syndrome?

And other states have "Make My Day" laws aka Stand Your Ground where a person is not required to flee but may inflict bodily harm up and to and including death in order to protect persons or even just property in some states

Look it up at Wikipedia, I'm using a browser that won't allow me to paste links. 

JWBlue - I also thought about that statement.  People are very litigious so who knows what someone might think up after finding out she won all that money?  She's a pharmacist, so I assume she has insurance anyway. But I can just see a pregnant woman in court insisting she didn't know the birth control pills she was prescribed are to be taken by mouth.  "Yes, I wore that diaphragm every night.  It looked strange and didn't quite fit my big toe, but I thought I was protected."

The GameGrl writes: "......The greatest flaw she has seen by folks with money is entrusting a group of advisors to handle the money and ensuring persons they are secure. Most stars who have filed bankruptcy did so because they allowed a team of experts to handle their funds, and skim in the process."

I couldn't agree with you more!  There used to be a commercial slogan "Thank you Paine Weber."  Several years ago I personally changed that to "F-you, Paine Weber."  It's important to watch over your investments and stay up-to-date on market conditions, not only to ensure that others are honest, but that they are also competent.

Lilly & Coin Toss - We're the Old Wild West here in Florida.  Shoot now, ask later.  I'm not sure if it passed, but I remember when Jeb Bush wanted to change the law that requires a person to walk away from a conflict whenever possible to allow using deadly force when one feels threatened.

In some states you have up to 3 months to decide how you want to claim your jackpot,annuity or cash option.Thats probably where you got the 3 month figure.

Probably the type of lawsuits where they hope the defendant will offer them a settlement that is less than the cost of going to court. It sounded like a frivolous lawsuit when that woman put a hot cup of coffee between her legs while driving her car so she could answer her cell phone, but look at what she got. 

It said "some taxes" and the limited partnership was formed before they cashed the ticket. If Uncle Fred had a 1% share, he might not have to pay a gift tax.