SC officials getting nervous that $1.5 billion Mega Millions winner won't claim prize

Comment #52

brees2012 — Sun, 03 Mar 2019 16:41:52 GMT

If I won this lottery $1.5 Billion , my lawyers would've already turned the ticket in .

WXYZ LLC

Comment #51

Raven62 — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 08:47:54 GMT

Comment #50

noise-gate — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 01:11:06 GMT

..then again, perhaps the winner is undaunted by both the public's lottery officials curiosity. The winner may have passed away or the ticket no longer exists * landfill or victim of the laundry room.If socks can go missing there, why not a lottery ticket

Comment #49

kandi56 — Sun, 17 Feb 2019 00:16:26 GMT

as i see it if it was me i would wait until i get everything in order and make them do what they have done to others congrats to the winners

Comment #48

brees2012 — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 14:23:40 GMT

Has anybody if anymore about this $1.5 BILLION winner(s) ??????

I heard a group of people won it , haven't heard anymore

Comment #47

mikeintexas — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 05:50:16 GMT

That sounds like it could be a plot for a movie!

Oh, wait....

Comment #46

Big Joey — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 22:40:29 GMT

Maybe there's a mummified corpse still holding the ticket. The elderly person without children, watched the drawing live, realized they won, had a massive stroke, or massive heart attack, and died instantly. Who knows? Someone could have died realizing they won the billion dollar jackpot. It's speculation at this moment.

Comment #45

Artist77 — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 17:59:24 GMT

Do you know that pb winner? It is theoretically impossible that she did not receive email and mail and personal approaches from people asking for money and other incidents. There is always a danger with that large a sum of money and anyone who does not take precautions, is reckless and naive. Just because the winner was not killed or stalked, does not mean the winner is living in a carefree fairyland.

By the way, the furloughed employees are going back to work and will get all their back pay,... [ More ]

Comment #44

TheGameGrl — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 21:12:40 GMT

I realize a previous poster went the dramatic and rather macabre way of the winner being dead. Why can't it be like most hiccups in life...the person bought a slew of them from a self serve machine and the ticket simply got jammed and no one was the wiser. In the mist of it being jammed it was torn so ergo- defective for claim. Thus why NO one has come forward...because NO one can claim it.

Sorry but I cannot subscribe to the go seen an accountant and blah blah blah. You Get it verified and... [ More ]

Comment #43

Big Joey — Sat, 26 Jan 2019 03:33:43 GMT

Any jackpot winner should have two Simplisafe alarm systems operating independently in their home with panic buttons, and keep a panic fob in their pocket. Along with Ring at the front, and back doors.

Comment #42

Artist77 — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 22:53:15 GMT

I know. I hate that process. Maybe the VA lottery can change that process. I do not like playing the same numbers for more than 1 draw and rarely 2 draws.

Comment #41

KY Floyd — Fri, 25 Jan 2019 19:21:02 GMT

There is only ONE way to verify a winning ticket.

There's only one way to validate a winning ticket. The lottery can verify a winner over the phone with near certainty based on the information printed on the ticket. The lottery has that information for every single ticket, and anyone in possession of a ticket has that information for the ticket in their hand. It's also possible to copy the barcode and send the copy to the lottery. Even if part of the character string that identifies the tick... [ More ]

Comment #40

Tucker Black — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 22:20:14 GMT

If this massive prize does go unclaimed (not surprising given how many people buy tickets and then lose them or throw them in the trash), returning the money to the state governments makes this game even MORE of a bad deal for players.

The state already gets a huge cut of the wager... about 50%. Keeping all the unclaimed prizes is basically double-dipping.

A more fair way to run a lottery is to put unclaimed prizes back into the jackpot. You wouldn't want to do this all at once, instead ad... [ More ]

Comment #39

music* — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 21:27:42 GMT

Coin Toss, Each winner is different. I do not restrict anyone from doing one thing or the other.

Some will welcome publicity and others not. Craigory Burch Jr. did not have a choice.

Comment #38

Coin Toss — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 20:22:08 GMT

music,

You posted this in the thread about Virginia allowing winners to be anonymous;

The young man from Georgia was Craigory Burch Jr. a 20-year-old Fantasy 5 winner. He won $434,272.00 on 11/30/2015. Seven of the murderers have been caught.

Some say that he should have been more discreet about gifting charities.

I believe that anonymity would have saved his life. Lessons for all of us to learn.

Yet in this thread you say this;

I hope that the winner goes public!

S... [ More ]

Comment #37

TheMeatman2005 — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 19:52:13 GMT

They don't have a year.....only up until April 21, 2019

Comment #36

brees2012 — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 17:42:00 GMT

I heard 20 people won this , it was a group. It doesn't make sense to take this long

to announce it , must be a bigger reason , why it's taking this long !!!!!

It could take up to a year , just to get everything taken care financially .

Comment #35

Bleedblue21 — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 16:58:39 GMT

Somehow I don't feel bad for the SCL. Really? Cry much? Whether someone comes forward to claim their riches has nothing to do with your fiscal budget .

Comment #34

music* — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 04:40:56 GMT

paymentplan-man, I understand the verification process here in California. I do not want the winner/s, financial adviser to try to verify the ticket over the phone. I think that the financial adviser can call the Lottery Office and follow the procedures to identify the ticket as the winner. It will not be verified. The Lottery Office will decide if the call is a hoax or not. The Lottery Office will also decide if they will alert the public. I have no idea what the Lottery Office's procedures are... [ More ]

Comment #33

paymentplan-man — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 03:51:49 GMT

My problem with subs is just that I prefer to play a number once only usually just random quick picks. Here in VA the subs are for (4) draws at a minimum.

Comment #32

dannyct — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 03:49:38 GMT

I said it before, but I'll say it again, subscriptions are the way to go. If you win small prizes, they are automatically credited to your account. If you win large prizes, the Lottery will contact you. You can't liolo your ticket, or it cannot be stolen. All lotteries should offer such a service.

Comment #31

Perfecttiming2 — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 03:49:10 GMT

Sooo very true

Comment #30

paymentplan-man — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 03:19:24 GMT

There.Is.No.Phone.Route

There is only ONE way to verify a winning ticket. I keep telling you this and you've overlooked this detail like 4 times now.

Let's backtrack here.....

What you are wanting is for the winner to call the lottery office (to verify said ticket) so people can stop worrying about the ticket but in hindsight the only way to verify the ticket is to have it read through the machine in the lottery office. Not a copy of the ticket......not a picture...the actual physical... [ More ]

Comment #29

Artist77 — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 02:07:04 GMT

Wrong.

Comment #28

Artist77 — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 02:03:24 GMT

A great question. A lot of people do not have wills or trusts. So the state law of intestate (no will) succession will apply. Most states have something like the children get some share, then spouse....or even parents, and/or siblings. It varies per state. I glanced at SC law and it says children get 1/2, spouse 1/2 but this can vary if there are no children, spouse, etc. https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/intestate-succession-south-carolina.html

If the will or estate plan was in process... [ More ]

Comment #27

Kingofearth — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 01:26:23 GMT

If a winner dies then the funds get transferred to whoever the winner lists in their will. If there's no will, WWIII will be a massive understatement for the fighting and lawsuits that will result from all the relatives trying to get their slice

Comment #26

Horsegeek40 — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 01:13:24 GMT

This may be an extremely dumb question but what would happen if the ticket owner(s) pass away unexpectedly before claiming ticket??? Hypothetically if he/she/they are in process with getting financial stuff in order with lawyers and financial advisors wouldn't the courts have to wade into the weeds on this?

And if that was a naive question then thwack me on the head.

Comment #25

music* — Thu, 24 Jan 2019 00:57:05 GMT

All of this will be mute if the ticket is lost.

I am not saying that the winner/s are waiting too long to claim. I am saying they should try the phone route. The winner/s can wait until the last day which I think is a Friday.

Good Luck to all LP Members tonight. Power Ball time

Comment #24

paymentplan-man — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 23:51:57 GMT

Again the only legal way of verifying a ticket is by going directly to the lottery office and running the ticket through a machine that verifies it. Of course there's serial numbers/ pictures of people buying tickets at certain times etc etc but the only way to legal say I'm the winner is to place said ticket in said machine and have the machine verify it. What you said about Cali is true for every state but what im telling you is that there's only one way that your ticket will be verified. But... [ More ]

Comment #23

paymentplan-man — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 23:43:44 GMT

Nope this is false my friend.

The state that has the winner gets the income tax BUT if your home state income tax rate is MORE than South Caroina's then you would owe the remainder to your state. For instance lets say that SC income tax is 5% (not looking up these numbers) and you live in Maryland that has a 8% income tax. You would pay SC there 5% then owe Maryland 3% because you would get a 5% tax credit towards your home state. If you live in Virginia with a 4% then you would still pay SC... [ More ]

Comment #22

music* — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 23:41:15 GMT

pmpm, Here in California there is an 18 digit number on the front of the ticket that the winner or his/her adviser could use to identify themselves as the winner/s. The adviser could also use other identifying information that only the winner/s and the Lottery knows. Such as the approximate time of purchase, how crowded the store was, how many clerks were there, what else did you buy at the store, etc.

The ticket could have been blown out of the winner/s car window.

Comment #21

CDanaT — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 23:09:35 GMT

TMM... I wasn't 100% certain on where these funds that get collected, are held for the PB and/or MM. I am just leaning towards in the state where the winning ticket was sold at this point in time. But I could be completely wrong.

When I was researching the Lotto America rules, I came upon this document that describes funds to be held/transfered etc....

https://www.nmlottery.com/uploads/FileLinks/82400d81a0ce468daab29ebe6db3ec27/Lotto_America_Group_Rules_November_7_2017_to_be_effective_with... [ More ]

Comment #20

EdG1955 — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 22:54:01 GMT

South Carolina shouldn't be counting that tax money yet anyhow. If the winner is from out of state, their income tax payment will go to their home state.

Comment #19

TheMeatman2005 — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 22:30:57 GMT

CD, I had started a thread in the lottery discussion forum asking

Who gets the accruing interest on unclaimed lottery money?

You wrote Guess you legislators better just consider that one(if the winner comes forward at all ) for a late hurricane fund.... But at least you're slurping up the interest on all that cash for another possible 12+ weeks.

Only one person replied.

Comment #18

zephbe — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 22:19:28 GMT

Sounds like someone (not the winner) is trying to count eggs before they hatch.

Trying to get their greedy hands on some tax money.

The winner will claim when he/she is ready.

Comment #17

paymentplan-man — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:55:52 GMT

The ticket is not lost. It was the ticket for the biggest lottery ever (or so it was advertised). I would think that any wise adviser would want everything to be perfect before you deal with this kind of wealth. I mean you might be going from living pay check to pay check to now worrying about a cool billion. None of us knows the burdens, planning, and stress that is involved from going into this kind of wealth overnight. I'm really hoping this is the last we hear about this other than it's been... [ More ]

Comment #16

paymentplan-man — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:45:57 GMT

Common Sense? I hope you're seriously joking. Informing the lottery office that you won if anything would be the opposite of common sense. Plus that's not how things work. The only way to properly inform them that you won is to take your ticket and get it verified IN the office. Anyone could just call in and say hey guys don't worry I have the ticket tucked away safely and I'm waiting 2 more months to claim it . So what you are saying is that it would be common sense to go down there and have th... [ More ]

Comment #15

music* — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:22:00 GMT

noise-gate, I heard that the couple who won in Fremont, CA lost it all within five years.

This S.C. winner's adviser could contact the lottery officials.

Personally, I believe the ticket has been lost. That is my guess.

Comment #14

music* — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 21:17:09 GMT

oate, Do we really need more laws to tell us what or what not to do? Whatever happened to Common Sense? A simple phone call by an adviser would settle everyone down. That would be the kind thing to do.

Comment #13

oate — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 20:49:26 GMT

If SC wanted a courtesy call three months in, they should have written the law to address that. There's nothing impolite about doing no more than the law requires you to do in this situation.

Comment #12

noise-gate — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 19:42:04 GMT

Exactly

Comment #11

Stack47 — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 19:24:37 GMT

Contacting the lottery is like an unwritten basketball rule; no harm, no foul. Or like the unwritten no call football rule when your team is winning. Does the lotteries need to find the winner outweigh the winner's privacy

Comment #10

noise-gate — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 19:10:25 GMT

You find it impolite to not contact the lottery- why music? If the winner want to take their sweet time, then why not? It s not as though they overstayed the checkout time in a hotel, they entitled to do what they deem necessary. Do you recall back in Aug 2012, the California Lottery swooped down on a convenient store in Fremont less than 45 days after a MM winner had not showed up to claim their millions. They, the lottery, took it upon themselves to put the footage of the winner on tv with the... [ More ]

Comment #9

KY Floyd — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 18:51:58 GMT

Give it a break, SCL

This has nothing to do with the lottery. This just the logical result of somebody a bit smarter than Clark Griswold waiting until they actually get their bonus before making commitments about how to spend it. The deadline for the winner is still 3 months away, but the finance people have a deadline that's only 3 weeks away and they're just being cautious enough to not count unhatched chickens.

Comment #8

music* — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 18:40:24 GMT

Here is another guess. The winner is a teenager 18 or 19 years old. They are following the advice found here on LP and getting a team together. An attorney, lawyer, Certified Financial Planner, and a Certified Public Accountant CPA.

We may never know.

Comment #7

music* — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 18:14:37 GMT

I find it impolite for the winner not to contact the Lottery Officials. At least have a financial adviser do the same. Maybe even a lawyer or attorney.

Players who purchased tickets at the store are double-checking their tickets.

The largest amount never claimed was $70.2 million in a Power Ball ticket 2002. I think it was in Indiana. This record amount will change that if not claimed.

Comment #6

noise-gate — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:50:33 GMT

l have no idea why they are nervous? The rules at the back of every MM PB ticket out here States Winner has up to a year to claim. If the winner is in no hurry, what s their problem? Balance your books without factoring in what you assume should be.

I bet if they knew the phone # of the winner, they would be harassing the individual to please come forward we need that cash for the schools new prison doors to keep those criminals off the streets away from YOU.

Comment #5

BigD$ — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:32:04 GMT

They are worried about their $61 million lol

While the winners hundreds of millions at stake

Comment #4

dpoly1 — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 17:10:26 GMT

Why play

Comment #3

CDanaT — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:55:26 GMT

April 21st deadline hunh ? Let's seeeeeeeee....That is Easter Sunday...and roughly 88 days away. Wonder if they are strict and say by close of business on Friday(19th) or the option for Monday(a day late)......Not my horse,not my stall to clean out.

Guess you legislators better just consider that one(if the winner comes forward at all ) for a late hurricane fund.... But at least you're slurping up the interest on all that cash for another possible 12+ weeks. I am sure you can have an alternat... [ More ]

Comment #2

JADELottery — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 16:54:24 GMT

If this were our $1.5+ Billion jackpot, we'd be taking our time to collect, too.

Comment #1

Bleudog101 — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:47:35 GMT

If it has been Simpsonville, KY not SC I would have claimed it in 2019.

Give it a break, SCL...still almost three months to go.

A strange feeling does come that this won't be claimed.

I know it would never ever happen in my wildest dreams, but wouldn't it be something if they just put it in the MM jackpot all @ once? Could you just imagine the frenzy then? LOL

SC officials getting nervous that $1.5 billion Mega Millions winner won't claim prize

Lottery Post — Wed, 23 Jan 2019 15:36:03 GMT

Here's how a big money winner could end up being a bit of a money loser for South Carolina.

If in a few weeks no one claims a lottery ticket worth $1.5 billion sold in the Upstate, Palmetto State lawmakers may have less money to spend in the coming fiscal year.

The state expects to collect $61 million in income taxes as its share of the Mega Millions jackpot if the winner opts to take the money as a lump sum.

The winner still has three months to turn over the ticket to state lottery of... [ More ]