Anonymity to avoid lawsuits - frivolous and otherwisePrevious TopicNext Topic

We have all done something stupid in our lives for which others would like to get some revenge - jilted lovers/spouses, friendships ended badly, bad bets, business deals gone bad, etc.

Of course, some people might threaten to sue you for simply looking at them funny - and now you have money and are a clear target.

Would you want to claim a major jackpot anonymously primarily because you fear a lawsuit or two or three (hundred!)??  Jack Whittaker was a target for sure - deserving or not.

Or does it fall much lower on your list of reasons to claim anonymously or not?

I've done more than one stupid thing in my life.  However, the main reason I wouldn't want my name or photo in the news is for safety purposes.

I'm an introvert and have no desire for fame or attention.  I buy my tickets in Delaware so it wouldn't be a problem for me to stay anonymous.

For safety of my family and myself. Fame is overrated. 

I would rather remain anonymous not because I fear a lawsuit, but because I just don't want the extra attention.

The reason to be anonymous is to reduce the number of people who ask for money. It's very unlikely to make a difference in the number of frivoulous lawsuits that might come your way. Knowing you have money could make you a more attractive target, but it's your actions that make you a target in the first place. Even Jack Whittaker only managed to be sued by a few people, and he seems to have been very good at making himself a target.  That makes me think I'd have very little to worry about.

What I would be concerned about are legitimate lawsuits. Winning a lottery isn't likely to make you a better driver, for instance, and if somebody has a legitimate reason to sue you, having claimed anonymously won't be a factor when their lawyer checks to see whether or not you're likely to be a worthwhile target. One of the many reasons to have good insurance coverage is that you won't be the one paying the bills for defending against any lawsuits that would require your insurance to pay if you lose. It's rare for a plaintiff to collect much more than the available insurance coverage, but anyone who has a few million in assets and doesn't have a hefty umbrella policy is an idiot.

Winning makes you a public target, which would.

1. Make me question whether new friends or relationships were really about me or the money I won.

2. Put my friends and family in danger.

3. Make me a target for beggars and scammers.

There are too many people in the world who are both stupid and greedy. That combination makes them dangerous.

I'd prefer to remain anonymous so as not to hear from the 675,000 "cousins" that surface when someone wins a jackpot.

David Lee Edwards, famous for saying, "You can't fix stupid" - who won a jackpot, bought a home in Florida and lost it because he stopped paying his association fees, said when he won he was getting sacks of mail everyday addressed to "Lottery winner" and asked the post office to stop delivering it. They said they had to because they knew where he lived and who it was intended for. He estimated he had received over 50,000 letters.

That was just anil mail, so you can imagine all the other requests and solicitations.

Coin Toss, is this really true?  I mean, that's like addressing a letter to Santa Claus.  Does the USPS have to deliver all of that mail too?

When I receive mail addressed to "Resident" I just write on the envelope "He doesn't live here any more. Please forward."

I write "deceased" on junk mail.I have to take it the Post office drive-thru because the mailman won't pick up the junkmail from my mailbox.

Don't you guys have trash cans? :)

No,no trash cans here.I used to have a spare room where I stashed the junk mail.My insurance man stopped by one day and raised my rates because that room qualified as a fire hazard.I was forced to write "deceased" on the front of all that junk mail and send it back where it originated from.My insurance rates went back down.But I got writers cramp in my right hand.Now I get very little junk mail from that publishing house in New York and that record club in Terre Haute,Indiana.Not to mention all of those preapproved credit card offers!

I would wish to remain anonymous for the simple reason, I would not want to be treated differently for before. At every conversation people would say, "well, you can afford it". I can imagine that would get very tiring. I don't talk about my income, or ask others about their incomes, so why talk about additional income from a lottery win?

Hey Mike, put anything you get with a pre-paid envelope in that envelope and send it back to them! Let them pay for getting their junk mail back and they will almost stop sending you their junk mail! I have been doing it for years and my junk mail has almost come to a complete stop from the credit card companies and the Columbia house type clubs! And Mike, some companies just don't get it and keep sending you their junk anyway and I keep sending it all back to them in their pre-paid envelope!