Winner who expressed concern over lengthy payout timeline finally received prize
Includes video report
By Kate Northrop
A California man who had raised concerns over how long he had been waiting to receive his $44 million Powerball jackpot from the California Lottery has finally received his prize after nearly 12 weeks.
After almost 12 weeks of waiting, the lottery winner of a $44 million Powerball jackpot has finally received his check.
Four weeks ago, a lottery enthusiast by the name of Jerry reached out to ABC7 to broadcast his issue: he had been waiting over nine weeks to receive a $44 million Powerball jackpot from the California Lottery.
Jerry had purchased lottery tickets at the Ralphs grocery store on Golden Lantern in Dana Point using his own numbers — 1, 2, 15, 23, and 28, plus the Powerball number 10 — to hit the jackpot in the Aug. 19, 2024 drawing.
"It was exciting in a really subtle way because you don't anticipate ever hitting all six," Jerry told ABC7 reporters. "Six numbers on the Powerball is... the odds are you'll die before... You'll walk out and get hit by lightning before you win that one."
While he was not officially confirmed a winner by the Lottery, he alleged that he was waiting over nine weeks without an update from the Lottery as to when he might receive the winnings or about where in the verification process his claim was standing.
"The process is really horrible for a winner of a big... any big lotto winnings," he said in an interview. "They won't tell you by this date, you'll get the funds. They won't tell you that. They leave it open-ended so you're sitting, waiting daily."
On Sunday, Nov. 24, Jerry confirmed with ABC7 that he was able to pick up his lump-sum check for nearly $17 million after taxes about two weeks ago.
"I felt great, but I was so stressed about it," Jerry shared with the media outlet. "I am thankful. I am going to be a millionaire for the rest of my life."
He added that he already paid off his home, made some investments, and shared part of the prize with his family. However, Jerry maintained that he was disappointed with the nearly 12-week wait and hopes that future lottery winners are not subject to the same timeline.
In April, Lottery Post investigated the lengthy payout timeline for $1.08 billion Powerball winner Yanira Alvarez, in which she waited more than five months to receive the prize since filing a claim with the Lottery.
Lottery Director of Public Affairs and Communications Carolyn Becker explained to Lottery Post that verifying a winner is not as simple as one might expect, and that paying out a multimillion-dollar prize can take much longer than processing a smaller win. The Lottery's thorough vetting procedures are estimated to take six to eight weeks, possibly longer depending on varying factors in the claimant's case.
There are several hypothetical explanations for why a big jackpot claim might take additional time for review before being paid out, which are best outlined in Lottery Post's previous investigation.
The meticulousness on the Lottery's end is largely motivated by the need to ensure the right winner is being paid out. There are bad actors who attempt to wrongly file a claim for a jackpot that they did not win. The Lottery will not officially announce the winner or award the prize unless they are positive they are issuing winnings to the correct person.
If you would like to file a claim for a lottery prize in California, all claim forms are available on the California Lottery's website.
UPDATE: After the California Lottery's announcement on Dec. 3
On Tuesday, the California Lottery officially announced Jerry Heath as the winner of the $44.3 million Powerball jackpot.
Having experienced a low-income upbringing, Heath told Lottery officials that one of the reasons he enjoys playing the lottery is that it helps raise extra money for public education.
“I’m a very fortunate human being,” Heath told Lottery officials. “I can’t forget where I came from now that I’m a multimillionaire. I don’t really travel; playing the lottery is my only luxury.”
Heath emphasized his support of public education, noting that he received his business degree at Long Beach State College, now known as CSU Long Beach. After he completed school, he became a decorated detective for the Long Beach Police Department and served six years in the United States Army, he told the Lottery.
He plans on sharing his winnings with his daughter and grandchildren. A former boss complimented Heath, saying that the jackpot win "couldn’t have happened to a better person.”
The lottery enthusiast doesn't plan on quitting anytime soon, rather he'll focus his daily efforts elsewhere. With a Powerball jackpot under his belt, he has his sights set on the SuperLotto Plus jackpot, a California-wide draw game.
VIDEO: Watch the report
What did the lottery need to verify for this gentleman that took 12 weeks?
Things take time in California, America's Banana republic.
Happy for the lottery winners but sad they had to wait that long but it should not come as a surprise to those who know what is going in the state.
It took me about 8 months to resolve a $55 credit to my property tax at my local county office in Maryland. So, for $44 million, I guess that's a reasonable time frame.
It's about time. I am very happy for him and I hope he enjoys his winnings and has a happy life for a long time to come.
I'm sure the winning state has to wait until all other states gather their money from retailers, and then process that correctly before sending the money to the winning state lottery. A lot of cooks in the kitchen that are not efficient with basic procedures on any given day.....lol
I would have thought it would take much longer. Three months seems more than reasonable.
I'm sure the state doesn't mind earning interest on the winnings while it investigates the claim.
But the interest should belong to the winner.
Just because it takes them so long to verify that they won, once that has been determined the winner should get 'everything" (after tax winnings plus interest on that money)
Mind..
apparently you can be spending your "Euro millions" within three days of "discovering that you have won'.. And two of those days are banks processing the transfer...
Note that EUROMILLIONS is a multi country lottery, so not just a single jurisdiction, so "comparable" to the USA MEGA MILLIONS and POWERBALL when it comes to collecting money from everyone.
And if you win with an online purchased ticker.. verification should take "no time at all" (but there is still the two or so days for the banks to process the payment before you get your money.. It used to be "working days (aka Mon-Fri), but improvements in banking might mean it is any two days (including Sat and Sun)
Eromillions seem able to do it a lot faster
https://metro.co.uk/2022/05/19/what-actually-happens-when-you-win-the-euromillions-lottery-2-16671355/
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As soon as the winning ticket is verified and the ID of the winner confirmed, the Lottery can pay the winner their money on that very day.
However, once the money is paid into an elected bank account, it takes two days for the money to process before it can be withdrawn.
This means that the longest you have to wait before getting the money is around three days between discovering you’ve won the lottery and actually being able to spend the cash."
That means that the verification process takes a day ... admittedly, this is/was UK...
But the Euro Millions is a multi country lottery.. and there might even be currency issues.. UK uses teh pound, most of Europe uses the Euro...
And some of those payouts can be fairly big. Most recent was about US$222 million .. cash in hand (tax free in most of Europe & UK (IIRC Spain and Italy might take 20%)
They just want to collect on the interest as long as possible. Let's say they earn 4% on a lottery fund. So three months is 1%. 1% on 25 million before taxes is a cool 250k. If he wouldn't have reached out. I'm sure they would've dragged it out even longer.
That's totally ludicrous. He should go after them for the interest they earned!
For every draw where there is no winner,the state is banking that money. All of it! Less the 5% at best they are paying out from the overall haul. Non sense that they have to wait til all other states deposit . This is a well oiled more in then out. The meticulous investigation is more likely then not a rubber stamp got lost and they had to get Jimbob to look under his desk. Six weeks is more then feasible in this day of technology.
Whatever about this case, cooling off periods are a good idea. When people win a large amount and get it immediately, they can, in all the excitement, make very unwise decisions. A cooling off period along with good financial advice and the right to anonymity, would be very beneficial for lottery winners.
in california there are many things that could hold up a lottery claim. he might have forgotten indicate his pronouns on the claim form. or he filled out the form in english and they needed to find someone to translate.