Congratulations to them stepping forward.

Congratulations to the Smith family

They say they plan to tithe to their church. Does that mean that they plan to go buy a farm and donate a tithe of the crops and every tenth sheep, goat and cow that passes under the rod? Read your bible folks!

They have hired attorneys to help them with the money and will take a trip to the usual family spot, though they wouldn't say where that was.

Hats off to the Smith family!!

Wish the best to the luckiest family in NEW JERSEY... and have fun and not too wild :)

That family will no doubt enjoy their new found wealth. I hope they have competent, ethical advisers who will formulate a long term goal/budget for each of them.

If they don't stray from these guidelines then life should be sweet for each one of them.

Always wondered: The back of the lottery ticket clearly states "One Name Only" to be written in. I assumed (if/when I hit the big one) that I would need to create a Trust or LLC in order to bring in the whole family into winner's circle (if family is reading, this in no way constitutes a promise of sharing all of the winnings!).

This brings up the question: Would the lottery accept a newly created entity (created after the winning draw) as a winner? How about the IRS?? This article brought up the questions in my mind as 8 family members share the jackpot. I'm sure that any capable attorney has a work-around these "problems" but anybody have any thoughts on the legal side of winning and wanting to share with family??

 and they did it with a dream.

 We all want that sweet life. Planning ahead will help us get there when we win.

You living way in the past. That applied to the ancient Jews before their Great City fell to the Roman armies- another thing the name Smith is not Jewish... Just saying!

**When was the last time you brought a goat to your Church as a sacrificial offering?

Another Stroke of Luck: Having a Surname of Smith!

Most Common Surnames in the United States 1990 Census:

Smith
Johnson
Williams
Jones

UPDATE: The article has been updated with additional facts about the family and the win.

Excellent!!! I'm happy for them and glad it happened to this family!!

Congratulations!!!

Very happy for this family. Now their vacations will go from "pretty good" to "absolute kick-a__"!

This is what intrigues me.  My question is, who dreamt the numbers? Which family member had the dream. They quoted as saying, "THEY came to US through a Dream"!Congrats to all of you for hitting the big time! Keep on working? Not me! I would quit in a heartbeat! Get out and travel and see the good ole USA!

If a lottery is holding a press conference for a lottery winner, they should at least ensure that the questions can be heard!

the splitting the prize at claiming is smart. there will  be no complications with gift taxes.  as to divine intervention, what  devine being  gave them the numbers?  claiming on fri 13th gives me a clue. sounds like these people are all set up for a no problesm win and we shouldnt hear form them again... I look forward to hearing more.

prm199, i am with you on this one. I believe the Smiths are making a big mistake and violating the "gift tax" rule.

Don't they have to prove that this was a "partnership" before they are allowed to split the prize equally?

Aren't they going to be subject to the gift tax rule?

It's gonna be hard to prove to the IRS that they had a partnership and that everyone was contributing to play the lottery when the Mom says "she never gambles playing the lottery". However, they won't say who dreamt the numbers.

It doesn't sound like this was a lottery partnership. I see tax problems down the road.

Mom said she played $6.00, so does that mean everyone (8 people) contributed $0.75 to her dream?

She had a ticket for two drawings so it sounds like she bought 3 lines ($6.00) times two drawings ($12.00). I think she spent $12.00.

If 8 people had contributed just $1.00 each that would have been $8.00 not $12.00.

I don't believe anyone contributed money towards this jackpot but I admire her for sharing it with her entire family.

Will each person receive an equal share? The article doesn't mention it.

Imagine the gift tax she would have to pay if the IRS deems that she owes one? Millions in additional taxes!

Anyone have an idea if she'll owe gift taxes on this and how much?

Lottery personnel said in interview it was a one line ticket, multiplied. So, $3 for Wednesday and Saturday

Congratulations.  Enjoy. 

Decide how much you want to share.  Get a financial advisor and attorney before you claim the winnings.

The mother bought the ticket.  Another article I read said she is a minister.

This isn't the first time winnings were shared with family or friends.  That's what lawyers  and financial advisors are for.

"divine intervention"?

Yeah sure, riiight...

I hope they get sound financial advice and "enjoy" it to the utmost!

Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but they won't owe gift taxes, only income tax. In fact the IRS has a form specifically for the purpose of splitting gambling winnings that is used in these situations (form 5754). Below is some info I pulled from finance.zacks.com.

The Internal Revenue Service considers all lottery winnings to be taxable income, even if you do not receive an income document at the end of the year that reports the amount you’ve won. If you’ve split your prize with another person or group of people, you need to take steps to ensure any reportable amounts are allocated correctly between yourself and the other winners. In most cases, you need to handle these steps prior to cashing in on your prize.

State Lottery Regulations
Each state lottery commission creates its own rules concerning group or multiple lottery prize winners. The IRS sets mandatory withholding tax rules for prize amounts, but states decide the types of games and winning amounts that are applied to split claims. Before you cash in your winning ticket, download a winner’s handbook from the state lottery commission’s website to review your options.

Claims Department
The state lottery commission processes requests for multiple winner claims. Many states, such as California, Pennsylvania and Kansas require that split claims, be processed before the winning lottery prize is paid out. Other states, such as Oregon, require one claimant to receive the payout, then file a request with the lottery commission to divide the tax liability among the other winners. In either case the lottery commission gathers information about the winners and the amount of prize each person should receive before payments are arranged. The commission also uses claimant information to prepare the correct tax reporting information for each winner. Because each state lottery commission operates individually and may have varying rules, it is important to review the claim instructions for multi-winner claims prior to requesting a payout.

IRS Form 5754
When lottery prize splits are allowed by the state and a proper claim is submitted with the claims department, the lottery commission asks you to complete IRS Form 5754. This form must contain information about all the winners and the amount of prize each person received. This form is not turned into the IRS; the lottery commission uses it to prepare a W2-G form for each winner, listing the prize each person receives. W2-G forms are sent to winners by the end of January each year, and the IRS expects each person to report the amount of his prize as shown on the W2-G form.

Unreported Split
In general the IRS only requires you to report income that is yours. If lottery winnings you receive are split with other winners and you are the only person who receives a W2-G form, which shows the entire taxable portion of the lottery prize, the IRS expects you to report the whole prize on your return. If this happens and the winnings were really split between you and other winners, you have the option of reporting only your portion. If you do this, you also need to attach a statement to your return explaining that you only received a portion of the prize. On your statement, you need to list the amount you received and provide information about the other winners who received part of the winnings as well as the amounts they received. The IRS then checks the returns of the other people to see if they also claimed their portions. If the other winners do not report their prize, the IRS may require you to claim the whole amount, as shown on the W2-G form you receive.

I don't understand why you all are so so confuse. First and foremost if co workers can split a jackpot with no problem a family can split a jackpot too if they all are old enough to gamble . Number two IRS is not worried about tax implications IRS has taken there share of the money already so they are winners too. About the eight sharing that means IRS will actually make more in tax when all eight starts spending when was the last time you saw a black family of eight spending on one direction so this actually benefits the economy and IRS more like eight houses eight cars eight donkeys maybe I start playing 888 lol. Another thing about why they spent only $6 by eight people I think you need to go back to school and learn basic maths you see this family is smart not your typical black family there is a posibilty they could have put together a pool of $500 but decided to play only $6 per draw so this way they stay in the game longer I do the same thing I play my constant $3 and I play my quick pick $3 so I spend $6 too slowly because powerball and mega million is a long term strategy game not a one time play and win. I missed a $300,000 win on powerball on four numbers and pb with power play because I was waiting for $80,000,000 jackpot to grow and I regret this everyday. So just because they spent $6 doesn't mean that is all they have on there lottery budget and beside give them credit when was the last time you say a black family share anything peacefully if you want my opinion I think its because they have one son if I where him I get away from all those crazy females lol . I do have five sisters and am the only son and I could not wait to get the hell out don't you see his body language lol

My above comment is in respond to golfer1960 . At least they did better than the other crazy new jersey winner Pedro quezada who couldn't give his ten year girlfriend inez sanchez a KitKat bar break. He was so dumb he sent all his money to the Dominican republic go figure :)   I wonder what other trouble he is up to now apart from getting fat from donuts.

If you all want to know what I think well I think the guy in the family picked all the right numbers currently because we men are good in maths and all thoes women where already shopping at the mall and going back to pickup all there layaways that's what women do best spend our money. :)

Thanks to golpher1960, zephbe & albeone for the insights. I guess the key phrase in the IRS documents is "When lottery prize splits are allowed by the state...". 

The IRS is the big loser when these splits are allowed - especially in the long term - due to the Estate Tax (which by the way is the biggest con ever perpetrated on the American citizens). Here is why: in the short term, the IRS will get their 36% or whatever the highest tax bracket is from the winnings (whether its an individual or from several winners). But if we use the example of this family, they will each receive $25mil. The Estate Tax exemption is $10mil per family ($5mil per individual). In other words, each family will be able to pass on tax-free to their children $10mil. Anything above that amount is subject to the Estate Tax. So having 8 families share the winnings, the IRS will see up to $80mil. get passed on tax free! With a single winner, they too are allowed only $10mil is tax exemption so the IRS would be able to tax the remaining $190mil.  The Federal Estate Tax is 40% for amounts of $1mil and above.

Don't get me wrong, there should be NO ESTATE TAX (I would make an exception for IRA accounts and other instruments passed on to children that have had a tax exemption during the lifetime of the deceased). Lottery winning are a perfect example of why the Estate Tax is extremely unfair and a clear case of double taxation! As an example, you win $100mil cash jackpot. After Federal and State taxes you end up with approx. $60mil. (I live in Illinois so that would be my case. Obviously, some states have no taxes and rates vary). If I put my $60mil. in a bank and fly off to Vegas with the wife and our plane crashes, would my children get the $60mil? No. They would get $10mil tax free but the other $50mil would be taxed at 40% (ignoring State Estate Tax for now). So my kids would end up with a $20mil. tax bill all because I died!!  So I win $100mil.; pay my taxes and end up with $60mil.; die and my kids now have $40mil.   If anybody sees any fairness in this you have me stumped.

Anyway, I don't believe the story for this lucky family is as cut and dry as its being presented. If the State of New jersey does indeed allow these types of lottery splits, that is wonderful news for them. I truly hope they get great legal counsel that keeps them out of trouble. Specifically, explaining the $5mil per individual lifetime rule for Gifting as well as the annual gift tax rules which I believe are at $14,000 per year at the moment (you can give any individual up to $14,000 per year without either party having to report the gift as income. Anything above that goes against the $5mil. gift tax).

 You mean Obama is not on the list?

Jersey is on a roll.  MM website does not specify if the 5 number used Megaplier or not, but someone in NJ won @ least $1 million.  Hopefully they were one of the three that used Megaplier to get $4 million....Todd, was it you this time?

Happy spending.

That is so nice I am happy for the Family I read somewhere that the Lady that played the Mega Million

followed her own Intution and the number's popped  in her head?  And she rarley ever gamble.

This is so sweet. They are all multimillionaires. Time to spend some serious cash. 

Maybe she should go to Borgata or Caesars casino down the road from where they live!

The first time I heard the jackpot was sold in NJ, I thought maybe Todd the Chief was the winner. Imagine how appropriate and befitting that would have been.

Todd definitely deserves to work with all the hard work he does on LP!

It's common in Africa and Asia to this day to have animal sacrifices in churches. The ancient fairy tale books like the bible or the Quran are just that, fairy tale books that should have been destroyed centuries ago.

Inherited wealth breeds crazy and stupid <snip>s like Trump. The Estate tax needs to be much much higher on the extremely wealthy. 

"This isn't the first time winnings were shared with family or friends."

This also wouldn't be the first time that a winner shared with family and then paid gift taxes to the IRS. You can read about one particular case here: http://www.journalofaccountancy.com/issues/2012/jul/lottery-win.html and some general info here: http://www.sofloridaestateplanning.com/2012/03/articles/income-tax/planning-on-sharing-your-lottery-winnings-with-your-family-write-it-down-now/

"I guess the key phrase in the IRS documents is "When lottery prize splits are allowed by the state...". "

Taxes are based on IRS regulations, not what the lottery "allows". If you win a lottery prize the money is yours and the lottery has absolutely no say in who you share it with. The lottery just gets to make the rules on how they pay the prize.  Since there's only one ticket the lottery is entitled to make a single payment to the entity that owns the ticket, or they can write 100 separate checks to each individual member of a pool, depending on what their rules are.

The IRS treatment of the winnings will be about who actually won the prize and what pre-existing agreements were in place. If a bunch of coworkers share a lottery prize the IRS probably isn't going to be very aggressive about looking for proof that there was a mutual agreement to share the prize before it was won, because very few people would give the majority of the prize to their coworkers simply because they were feeling generous. Families are a completely different matter, because people are often inclined to share purely out of generosity that is a result of the familial relationship. In other words,  people often give gifts to family members. That means that the IRS is likely to demand proof that their was a legitimate pre-existing agreement to share any winnings. If there isn't proof the IRS may treat the winnings as income to a single person, and view the shares as gifts.

In that case, one person won a cash prize of about $284 million, and the IRS is going to expect them to pay income taxes of about $112 million. They'd also treat the $248 million that was given to the children as gifts, so after the $5.3  million lifetime exemption that's almost $243 million that could be taxed at 40%, so there's another $97 million the IRS may be asking for. That would be a total tax bill of $209 million, leaving them with about $75 million, or about $9 million each.