Quote: Originally posted by Bingo Long on March 16, 2005
I've done a little with lottery pools in MA. In short, it's possible, but a real pain.
First off, you know how on the back of the ticket it's got all that legal mumbo jumbo about the official rules and administrative bulletins, etc? Well one of the rules is that you agree to have your photo taken for lottery promotional stuff. So you can't legally go the anonymous trust fund route.
Second, only one person can claim the prize if you win. This doesn't mean only one person can own the ticket, just that only one person can claim it. It's then that person's responsibility to distribute the winnings according to ownership of the ticket. The lottery gives you a W2G, then you give them a 5754 form that says what each person's share is, and has all their tax info. Then they cancel the first W2G and issue everyone new ones at the end of the year. Which sounds like a good way to attract the attention of the IRS, if you want to get audited.
If everyone trusts the person running the pool when the ticket is claimed, and you pretty much need to, since there's not all that much stopping him from claiming that it's his ticket alone, then there isn't any real advantage of using a trust unless the payment is an annuity. If it's a cash payment, any written agreement should be fine. You'd only want a trust to claim the winning ticket so the trust gets the payments from the annuities each year.
That is Great! Thanks Bingo Long! You solved our problem. One more question: Do we need a federal employer identification number (FEIN) to claim cash price the way you described? Several web sites suggested FEIN, but based on your method, it is not necessary.
Thanks to dvdiva, Datenda and CASH only too. You are all very nice people.
I am the most active and trusted one among my friends, so I guess I will be the leader and no need to worry about the trust issue. :) If the idea in our club turns to be true, I will share the good news with you guys.
It is fun browsing on your site. I don't think I can be the leader in the following post and not kill myself. So I will always pitch in my own money if it turned out to be short. I guess that means on the agreement we will add that I can take over other people's share if they fail to pay the due before bet. Will there be any problem regarding this statement? Is there any necessary to add condition for take-over reversal?
I wish all of you good luck!
Syndicate Misses Out on Lottery Fortune
https://www.lotterypost.com/thread/101746