Winner might wait until last minute to claim lump sum unless they choose annuity
By Kate Northrop
Time is running out for the Florida winner of the $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot, who has two weeks left to step forward if they want the cash option of the prize.
There's not much time left to claim the one-time lump sum option of the $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot, which was drawn in August.
Unless the winner is planning on taking the annuity option of the jackpot, they better double check the claims deadline for the cash option.
In Florida, lottery winners have 60 days from the draw date to claim a jackpot prize as the cash option. After that, they can still claim it as an annuity 180 days from the draw date.
As the drawing for the $1.58 billion Mega Millions jackpot took place on Tues., Aug. 8, the winner must step forward before Sat., Oct. 7 to claim the lump sum. The final deadline to claim the jackpot as an annuity is Feb. 4, 2024.
According to USA Mega's Mega Millions Jackpot Analysis, after all taxes are paid, the winner will receive $996.5 million by the end of 29 years, or $493.5 million in cash all at once. Because Florida has no state taxes on lottery prizes, the winner only has federal taxes to worry about.
The jackpot garnered lottery fever across the country, securing its spot as the biggest prize in the game's history after 31 consecutive rollovers since April 21, 2023.
The sole winner, who bought their Quick Pick ticket at a Publix grocery store at 630 Atlantic Boulevard in Neptune Beach, became the fourth Mega Millions jackpot winner in Florida.
If the winner is still preparing to accept their prize, they won't have to worry about revealing their name — yet. The public will eventually find out the identity of the winner, although Florida does have partial privacy laws that allow a winner to delay release of their information for a period of 90 days following the claim.
Lottery Post maintains a complete list of lottery winner anonymity laws state-by-state (as well as in several other countries).
The Mega Millions numbers on that lone winning ticket for Aug. 8, 2023 were 13, 19, 20, 32, and 33, with Mega Ball 14.
The Mega Millions jackpot currently stands at $205 million for the next drawing on Fri., Sept. 22 at 11:00 pm Eastern Time.
Mega Millions is currently offered for sale in 45 states, plus Washington D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are Tuesdays and Fridays at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. Tickets cost $2 each.
The Mega Millions winning numbers are published at USA Mega (www.usamega.com) minutes after the drawing takes place.
Experts say the best thing to do is claim the cash option immediately, invest in an annuity so the cash starts working for you. If too much time has passed the tickets probably lost.
60 days??? Jeeesh...forgot about that lil aspect.... Hope your ticket wasn't misplaced.. ..what was the 1st payment on the annuity ?? Around 12 or 13 Million take home??... I am rooting for the cash option to make it in time
Kate, please proofread your first sentence. It said MILLION not Billion...easy enough to hit the wrong key.
As usual great article. Sure don't give much time to claim it.
That winner better get movin or else!! Better get that crew together fast!! SMH
what!
all that money
if he or she or they won they would have claimed it by now, ouch! might have forgotten where they put it, or left it in a pants and washed it or something.
Yeah like other have said if they were going to claim it they would have done so by now. They have had more than enough time to get legal advice and set up the required entities. Hope they claim it in time but it's not looking good.
It will be claimed on the very last day.
You'd have to be an idiot to lose a ticket purchased in Florida bc Florida has never sold a losing ticket.
Don't be surprised the ticket LOST or maybe the last day to choose. Let see what happens.
I can't wait to hear what crazy stories some will come up with to try and claim the money.
If it's not claimed in two weeks, does that mean 1.58 billion dollars will be added to Tuesday's 10/10/23 jackpot!?
I guess I better get down there.
I'd be happy with a million.
I'm heading there too, I'm coming from Texas, but my bicycle
keeps catching a flat, wait!? wait!? what!? do you mean no bicycles allowed on the highway!? 
It's possible that the winner wants to take the annuity option and will claim it just prior to 180 days. Add the three months of anonymity that Florida law allows, and that's a total of 9 months they can remain anonymous. That's more than enough time to go away and hide. G5
There have been five MM jackpot winers in Florida since 2014. Three of those five were claimed by either a LLC or a Trust and all took the cash option. Those trusts/LLC's are named "Pineapple Trust, Secret 007 LLC, and Cobie and Seamus Trust".
One week after (on 8/15/23) the 1.5 Billion dollar win in Neptune Beach, another jackpot win of 30 million was won in Jacksonville and it too is still unclaimed at this time.
I have to believe The Florida Lottery has informed the winners of both jackpots what has transpired with the three previous MM jackpot winners. My guess is we'll soon see a Trust or LLC come forward to claim their winnings.
There have been ten Powerball jackpots won in Florida since 2013. Four of those were claimed by a Trust or LLC. G5
G5...... If they are reasonably keen on being silent, they might have contacted Lottery Lawyer Kurt D Panouses down in Indiatlantic, FL. https://www.panouseslaw.com/
His site does show 4 trusts that he represented including the Nickel 95 trust back in 2016. With that sized jackpot getting $15 Million on the first annuity payout(after taxes) ain't too shabby.
Claiming it via a trust or llc does not change the Florida anonymity rules. Only 90 days.
"The Florida Lottery has informed the winners of both jackpots what has transpired with the three previous MM jackpot winners"
No, they know the location of where the tickets were purchased but do not know who purchased the tickets! The winner's lawyers are the ones making the contact to the Lottery system that they will be collecting the prize through a LLC or a Trust.
In hopes of being anonymous establishing a Trust and or a LLC to claim the winnings were thought of and established by lawyers and their clients. It took many years and laws passed for about 21 states to allow their winners to legally be anonymous. The Lottery system is in the business of promoting Jackpots and winners. They believe it promotes more business.
Neptune Beach and Jacksonville are only 30 minutes apart, my guess is why does that state and or surrounding cities within that state win so much? They probably have a very large secret pool. Many years ago there was an "Investment group" that covered most of the odds on the VA lottery and won. This was in 1992 good article.
I'm fine with tens of thousands of dollars, heck, so, 1 million "after taxes" more like the truthful of 1/2 million it would be, after taxes, is fine too."
I am sure this person shall "claim it" at the very last few minutes. (i hope)
$1.58 billion might be too high for J.G. Wentworth if the winner misses the deadline but still wants their money now.
the annuity is stretched out over 30 years, if you are 30 years old you will be 60 by the last payment, if you are 40 years old you will be 70 etc. although you lose almost half by taking the lump sum, most take the lump sum for obvious reasons.
While that Panouses attorney seems to have a great reputation, he is the firm vs Kurland who worked for a larger firm where he was one of multiple partners. With Panouses being the firm, and if he ever pulls a 'Kurland", he will just declare bankruptcy vs one having a chance to get your money back from a larger firm.
Agreed. IMHO claiming via trust or an LLC makes it somewhat harder for others to learn the names of the actual winner(s). G5
Right! Dont know what I was thinking! It'll very likely be a lawyer that contacts The Florida Lottery on behalf of the winner(s).
IMHO setting up an LLC or a trust to claim the winnings is one of the very first recommendations a lawyer should make to their client.
Lottery's also say that revealing the name of jackpot winners helps build confidence by the general public that the lottery is fair and not rigged. The part they leave unsaid is that it's also very good for business. G5
Dont give up hope. There's always more to the story than meets they eye with these kinds of things.
Could be their lawyer is waiting to the last second to claim it in the form of a trust or LLC. G5
all good brother or sister, no pressure, we just chopping it up, talking that lottery talk.
this is just a general statement,
I think there is a way to establish the LLC to where the true owner of the LLC does not have to be stated on the LLC filings, or a legal alias. Also I would recommend anybody who gets to this stage to make sure the lawyer walks you through every detail of the LLC (if he is pushy or hesitant about this!?
!) and you test it out yourself and our have another lawyer verify its integrity for any possible back doors!
I've read that when a member of an LLC wants to deposit money in a bank, most banks will require at least one member of the LLC to disclose their name in order to open the account. That creates a paper trail that could lead to a winners name. I cant imagine any bank revealing the name on the LLC's account to anybody, but an unethical bank employee could and might leak it.
As far as creating a trust goes, somebody has to agree to act as the trustee, even if it's the winner themselves. The big advantage to starting a trust is to avoid probate. During probate, the names included in the trust become publicly available. If you hire a lawyer to act as the trustee, there are probably very few lawyers that would ever reveal the names of people included in the trust. G5
There is always the chance that the holder of the winning ticket is someone that never plays unless there is a really big jackpot. In that case they may not be too lottery savvy and either, A) stuck the ticket some where and forgot about it. B) didn't check it properly, thought it was a loser and trashed it. C) bought it while vacationing in Fla. and doesn't know the 60 day deadline to claim it as cash is almost here.
Neptune Beach is a summer tourist attraction town. Someone bought a ticket, went back home, and lost the ticket. That's one ticket that will never be claimed.
Why play?
Can we get a Lottery Post story on the September 19th 2023 Cash4Life drawing... 1 top prize winner with 4 second-tier winners
but it looks like 4 total of those tickets were sold at 1 retailer?! Lucky place! 
How can lp do a story before the prize is claimed? It is not a record jp but a smaller fixed prize. I am guessing the 4 tickets from the same store are the result one person playing each of the bonus numbers 1-4. It would be more interesting once we know more info.
I used to play Cash for Life quite a bit and many times I bought four lines and the only number different on each line was the Cashball. I knew lots other players that did the same thing. Your guess is spot on. G5
I think the Ga. Cash4Life game comes in third for worse odds. There was only one jackpot winner for the month of August. And zero for the month of July
Ahhh you're probably right, I didn't even think about that, lol. Well that paid off for that lucky person if that's what happened, a total of $10 million!
Ever so timely, the winner officially claimed the cash option today.$783,000,000 Protected by the 90 day confidentiality exemption!!! Congrats on that come up!
It's a MultiState game, all prizes are fixed amounts. Next to PB and MM the odds of not winning are the third highest. The history data clearly verifies those odds, it shows the game can go months without a Top prize and 2nd prize winner. Also for "Life" looks like it's really 20 years.
Looks like the winner came forward.
https://www.wfla.com/news/florida-lottery/florida-winner-of-1-6b-mega-millions-jackpot-comes-forward-to-claim-prize/
*they took the cash option that's "$783,300,000 million" Somebody mentioned he, she or they might wait till near the claim by deadline. That way *they stay anonymous for an extra "90 days" which gives them more time to make arrangements to move etc.
Excellent tactics in waiting. You can be relocated, have valuables in storage, rent a discreet place or have a motor home, if need be. Be completely relocated before the nosey rosies of the world find out.
Good job