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August 14, 2002
526 Posts Online
Quote: Originally posted by CA LotteryGuy on Apr 3, 2007
guesser...it might be good for you to retrace your steps in this thread. When amsoly41 mentioned there were 10 states that allowed anonymity there was no mention of it just being for Powerball. You narrowed it down to Powerball. In order to get the true picture it would be best to include other states beyond those that offer Powerball.
Here is what I have come up with by reviewing both the Mega Millions and Powerball web sites. I have also listed those states that allow blind trusts. While technically not anonymous, it would accomplish the same intent of anonymity, that the winner's name not be released to the general public/media. Note, some of the policies may have changed in a given lottery since the the winner listed on the site was able to remain anonymous or able to claim via a blind trust. Also, there maybe a state that allows one of these options that hasn't had a Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot winner.
ANONYMOUS
POWERBALL: KS, ND, DE, SC (with the FOIA notation)
MEGA MILLIONS: MD
BLIND TRUST
POWERBALL: LA, NH, OK, PA
MEGA MILLIONS: OH
For those states that don't play either game, Florida for instance, I am not aware of a lottery that allows the winner to remain either anonymous or claim via a blind trust. If anyone knows that this information is incorrect or needs updating, please post the corrected information. It would be nice to know all of those states where your name would not be released. Who knows, should my travels bring me through one of those states I might throw down a few extra dollars and become a unknown winner!!!
guesser, if one were to inquire as to where someone could win a large jackpot and remain unknown, there are 10 states where this could happen, just what amsoly41 posted.
This brings an interesting question:
What exactly would be the difference between claiming a prize in person as an unknown (KS, ND, DE, SC, and MD) and having an attorney claim the prize at the lottery headquarters for you (LA, NH, OK, and OH)?
It seems to me that you would have more control over the prize if you claim the prize in person as an unknown (KS, ND, DE, SC, MD) rather than if someone had power of attorney and administrative rights of the prize (LA, NH, OK, PA, OH). I suppose that anonymous lottery winners are so afraid of their secret fortune revealed that they wouldn't complain to anyone (not even family or friends) about a lawyer who had too much power over them.
If possible, I would definitely form a trust to anonymously claim the prize, because I have been taken advantage of by a couple relatives in the past. Last year, I loaned my uncle $100, and he NEVER paid me back. A couple weeks ago, I loaned a relative $100 and he didn't pay me back either. Think about it. If you work a regular office job, and people borrow $100 from you and NEVER pay you back, then those same people are just going to ask for MORE money with NO intention of paying you back after you win a lottery jackpot. If I ever won the jackpot, I sure as hell wouldn't want people asking me for $5,000 loans with no intention of paying me back. Suppose you won a $20,000,000 jackpot, and the lump sum was $10,000,000. If you received $6,000,000 after taxes and your name was public, relatives would be coming OUT OF THE WOODWORK looking for YOU !!! If you loaned a relative $5,000, the relative will become greedy and think, "Oh, he still has $5,995,000 left, so I don't REALLY have to pay him back!" Two of my other relatives (a couple uncles from my father's side) served time in federal prison, and if someone cheats the U.S. Government, the most powerful government IN THE WORLD, why wouldn't that person try to take advantage of his nephew? All that potential hassle from leeches you call relatives wouldn't be worth the fame. I also would NOT want any silly family feuds. My father is probably one of the most overprotective people I have ever met. NO JOKE, I am FOR REAL on this one!!! He told me that I didn't have a choice but to work at this job for him, even though I got accepted into a master's program. People at where I work at have been so frustrated with him that they just QUIT their jobs. For years, he would YELL at clients on the phone. In the past, when I was a child, he would CHEAT on my mother and he would BEAT her on numerous occasions. He also fired a couple people who worked part-time, without even telling them in person that they were fired. In one instance, my father told someone to tell a part-time worker that he would not work for the part-time job anymore. In another instance, my father emailed a woman and told her that she can only work as a volunteer - WITHOUT PAY, and he forwarded that SAME email to my email address and another email address used by some other employees. Needless to say, she didn't work for my father anymore. Would you continue to work for someone without pay?!?!?!?!? My father didn't even tell those two employees FACE to FACE that they wouldn't be working for him anymore. If you are going to end someone's job or stop paying that person, you should tell that person FACE to FACE. Not only that, but he tried to stop that same woman (who could only work as a VOLUNTEER) from receiving a grant that SHE WROTE. If I ever won the jackpot, I know that my father would just fight me for control of MY money, because he is a control freak and he is so f&#king domineering. Trust me on this one, if I ever won a jackpot, I would be as anonymous as possible, because I WOULD ONLY PLAY IN A STATE WHERE I CAN BE ANONYMOUS.
Thank you for your time in reading my post,
Sincerely Yours,
rundown99
Smart lottery winners form trust to claim their winnings. They send an attorney to the lottery headquarters to claim the prize in trust, so that ONLY the name of the trust is revealed. And they tell NO ONE, especially relatives.
If you ever win a lottery and you are single, the only person you should ever marry is someone who was truly in love with you BEFORE you won the jackpot!
People can talk about strategies and gimmicks all they want, but unless your ticket actually matches at least 5 of those 6 balls, you are just another person who tried to win a game yet ultimately failed.
California United States
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October 1, 2006
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rundown99...regarding your comments about claiming as a trust through lawyers, I understand your concern. If able to claim a prize that way, I would think there would be a manner to establish the trust where you, the winner, are a trustee in control of the funds and the attorney acts at your direction. You can be certain these would be the type of questions I would get answers to before establishing the trust. If I didn't like the answer I would get a second opinion just to be sure.
Yes, it probably would happen that relatives and other people would come out of the woodwork "looking" for loans once you won the big one. As far as the comments about your Dad, sorry you have to deal with such a situation.
While remaining anonymous would be ideal, I live in California where it is impossible to remain unkown as a winner. I guess that is the price I will have to pay if (or when) I become a Mega Millions or Super Lotto Plus jackpot winner!
Kentucky United States
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February 14, 2006
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Quote: Originally posted by RJOh on Apr 3, 2007
I think when the recent MM jackpot hit $390M a lot of people started playing the game and thinking about what to do if they won. Now that both MM and PB jackpots are less than $100M those people probably aren't playing or concern about being anonymous if they win less than $100M. Hopefully they will have all that settled by the time either of those jackpot roll to $250M+ again and be really to just play the games.
Had I not read the names on Lottery Post, I would only know there was a winner in Georgia and New Jersey. If the winner is from Ohio I can find out which store in which city sold the ticket on their website. Two out of the four $1 million winners in the Labor Day Raffle formed a trust but the Lottery Commission published where the tickets were sold.
The local news media will want an interview with a large jackpot winner but I doubt after asking the usual questions they would follow them around like the paparazzi follow Britney. It really depends on who they are trying to hide from because it won't take their friends, neighbors, or family members very long to notice the change in lifestyle whether they form or a trust or not.
By the way, I was behind a guy buying a raffle ticket this morning and the ticket number was in the 229,000 so they need to sell about 400,000 more. If the tickets keep selling at this pace, they might have to move the drawing to Memorial Day.
United States
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June 16, 2006
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Quote: Originally posted by CA LotteryGuy on Apr 3, 2007
guesser...it might be good for you to retrace your steps in this thread. When amsoly41 mentioned there were 10 states that allowed anonymity there was no mention of it just being for Powerball. You narrowed it down to Powerball. In order to get the true picture it would be best to include other states beyond those that offer Powerball.
Here is what I have come up with by reviewing both the Mega Millions and Powerball web sites. I have also listed those states that allow blind trusts. While technically not anonymous, it would accomplish the same intent of anonymity, that the winner's name not be released to the general public/media. Note, some of the policies may have changed in a given lottery since the the winner listed on the site was able to remain anonymous or able to claim via a blind trust. Also, there maybe a state that allows one of these options that hasn't had a Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot winner.
ANONYMOUS
POWERBALL: KS, ND, DE, SC (with the FOIA notation)
MEGA MILLIONS: MD
BLIND TRUST
POWERBALL: LA, NH, OK, PA
MEGA MILLIONS: OH
For those states that don't play either game, Florida for instance, I am not aware of a lottery that allows the winner to remain either anonymous or claim via a blind trust. If anyone knows that this information is incorrect or needs updating, please post the corrected information. It would be nice to know all of those states where your name would not be released. Who knows, should my travels bring me through one of those states I might throw down a few extra dollars and become a unknown winner!!!
guesser, if one were to inquire as to where someone could win a large jackpot and remain unknown, there are 10 states where this could happen, just what amsoly41 posted.
What do you consider a 'large jackpot' ???
My state's 'large jackpot' is AT MOST $200,000, and is USUALLY around $75,000 - hardly worth having to go underground with, I would not consider that 'small' amount to be worth the trouble of trying to remain anonymous, I mean, why ?
And what about the posting from someone saying they would travel to another state to buy tickets JUST to remain anonymous ?
Why would anyone care about another state's lottery when the jackpot isn't anywhere near as big as PB or MM ?