DANBURY, Conn. — On the day that Donald Peters died, he unknowingly provided financial security for his wife of 59 years and their family.
Peters bought two Connecticut Lottery tickets at a local 7-Eleven store on Nov. 1 as part of a 20-year tradition he shared with his wife Charlotte. Later that day, the 79-year-old retired hat factory worker suffered a fatal heart attack while working in his yard in Danbury.
On Friday, his widow cashed in one of the tickets: a $10 million winner which, in her grief over her husband's death, she had put aside and almost discarded before recently checking the numbers.
"I'm numb," Charlotte Peters, 78, said at Connecticut Lottery headquarters in Rocky Hill.
Donald Peters usually bought the tickets for 10 weeks at a stretch, so the winning ticket he bought Nov. 1 for the Dec. 2 drawing was among several that Charlotte Peters put aside as she, their three children and two grandchildren coped with his sudden death.
"I was in the grocery store and I had it checked and they told me I was a winner," she said. "I had no idea how much it was."
She said she thought she had won $6 million but was surprised to learn from lottery officials she'd won $10 million.
Charlotte Peters has 60 days to decide whether to take a $6 million pre-tax lump sum payment or stretch the winnings into 21 yearly payments of almost $477,300 each.
She does not yet know what she will do with the money.
"I've always wanted a Corvette, but I don't think I'll buy one. I'll stick to a small car. I might go to Mohegan Sun," she said, referring to the casino in Connecticut. "I'm going to go home and sit and think."
The Peters children think their father would have appreciated the irony.
"He'd be very mad, he just passed away and she won a lot of money," said Brian Peters, one of the couple's three children. "He'd say, 'Figures!'"
Thanks to iGlenn for the tip. Thanks also to the many others who recommended it.
That is exactly what I would say "Figures!".
I can't count the number of times I've stopped playing a P4 number and BAM it hits the next draw! I add an explicative in front of "figures."
What a untimely stroke of luck for this family, I hope they fair well.
$5 sez she buys the corvette convertible inside of a year
Alanis' song wasn't so far-fetched after all.
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/alanismorissette/ironic.html
My condolences to the widow and her family. Imagine if she had not checked her ticket and thrown it away?
Amazing story. It must have been a huge shock to find out that one of the tickets that your dead husband had bought turned out to be a bug winner.
Good song, Hearsetrax!
Well, at least this woman has good taste in automobiles. I don't understand why she didn't ask one of her children to claim it, however. Sure she might live 10 or more years, maybe even to 100, but there will be a lot of estate taxes to pay when she dies, unless the laws change. If she takes it in 21 annual payments and dies, it will be even worse for the family. The IRS doesn't care if you inherit a structured annuity from a lottery prize. You still have to pay tax on the estimated value of the inheritance. Think you have 9 months after the death.
I wonder if Alanis has read this story!
these stories always give me hope...it said he had been playing for 20 years. I have been playing for just under 5. I can always hope in 15 more years it will be my turn to win!
You can bet if one of her children had collected the winnings, the other two would be mad and she wouldn't be able to think about wanting a Corvette or a trip to the local casino. She's better off claiming it herself and seeking the advice of a good tax lawyer to reduce the taxes her relatives will have to pay after she joins her husband.
RJOh, guess it depends on the family. A few years ago a man won $40 million in FL and gave the ticket to one of his daughters. He said she had a good head on her shoulders and he trusted her to make the right decision. I think he had 4 children and I had the same attitude as you. She was in college and opted for the 30 annual payments.
Not a lot of people realize that the IRS will tax a person's beneficiaries on the lump sum even if there are annual payments. Some people have sued the IRS. I wasn't aware of this IRS rule until I read a post on LP a couple of years ago. Then I did some research which is why I know about the court hearings when the IRS demanded the families pay tax on the estimated annuity value, even though they hadn't yet received the money.
Very good story indeed.
Inheritence Tax is unreasonable.
If I had a mansion, after passing it to my heirs a few times, the mansion's value would be deemed to be worthless to my descendants. They would have to pay tax on the mansion. No wonder many nobles in European Nations could not keep their castles. Eventually they had to donote to the government.
I wonder why don't they tax the White House after each term. I am sure they can collect good money on its current value.
It could happen, I have lottery subscriptions and if I died my subscriptions could still win. At least people would remember while the money lasts.
personally I'm kinda suprised she just didn't take the money and leave note on the door to the kids
nah she will need somebody to change her diapers in a few years
She was just on TV and mentioned she was about to throw the ticket away!
There's no doubt in my mind that kind of thing has happened, everything from lottery tickets to a possible cure for a disease.
"Honey, where's my notes? I left them on the coffee table"
"Oh, the neighbors are coming over for coffee and I cleaned up and everything went out with the trash this morning".
How cool is that! Wow, the death was tragic, but she'll be comfortable
for the rest of herdays. I give a portion to my children, and vacation my a--
off.
(a) I like to joke around too, but that's very disrespectful. Many people reach 100 without losing control of their bodily functions.
(b) If she's healthy she can buy long term care, although at her age it will be very expensive.
(c) Wealthy, older people have little trouble finding companions, although it's probably more difficult for a woman. After my Mom died, women were always chasing my Dad (and he didn't have a lot of money! lol) So with millions she can always find a boy-toy to rub her bunions.
BTW - can anyone find that "Time to rub the bunions!" ad? That was priceless.
I'm sure she has been made aware of some of the tax problems with inheriting an annuity as she admitted the ticket was bought by her husband before he died. That could mean that at least half of the ticket was his which means it may be treated as part of his estate when it's probated.
My condolences to the family. Even at that age losing a loved one is not easy.
am sure in some ways shes laughing @ the ironary all the way to the bank
Unless he signed it how could anyone prove it was his? Of course she opened her mouth about it but legally could they really treat it as if it were his???
"I've always wanted a Corvette, but I don't think I'll buy one. I'll stick to a small car. I might go to Mohegan Sun," she said, referring to the casino in Connecticut. "I'm going to go home and sit and think."
In my line of work, I find that it is true that most people will go home. They will sit. But they usually don't think about putting into action the logical and best financial steps for them and their family. I mean she went from saying she wanted to buy a showy car to settling for a small one (on a side note: I bet all those folks that ran out and shelled out top dollar for those ugly gas sipping hybrids, Smart cars, Astrias, etc are kicking themselves now that gas is back down in the dollar something range!! With gas prices this low, it will take them even longer to break even on that purchase...but I guess they can take solace in "feeling good" about doing something "green" for the planet! Same thing with all of the wind generators that sprung up all across the Midwest!). Then she showed her true thoughts when she said she might go to the casino (and blow all them millions in them slot machines...but on the positive side, spending a few million pulling slot levers should give at least one of her arms a light workout...oh and her lungs will get a nasty workout trying to breath that first hand, 2nd hand, and 3rd hand cigarette smoke!). If she takes the annuity, then it will be evident that she not only didn't think clearly about this, but she also didn't seek the advice of a good tax accountant.
I agree with you....it has to be signed before it can legally belong to anyone.
Sorry, folks. You are wrong. A spouse never has to pay gift or estate tax on any amount. There is no reason for it to go into probate because there is a surviving spouse. They were married for 59 years, meaning she was 18, so I doubt if there will be an ex-wife coming forward to contest it!
(I just looked at the above avatar and, for some reason, I feel as if I'm talking to myself! LOL)
GOD Bless you folks! I'm sorry to hear about your loss....I know the winnings will not bring back a loved one. If your husband/father is anything like my dad he would be laughing his butt off and saying "just my luck"! Best of luck in the future and I hope you make all the right decisions with your winnings!
Toogood
Congratulations to her! Why did she go public? What is the situation in Connecticut, are winners required to go public?
I would like the 10 million, but I would like to keep my anonymity.
Good luck with that anonymity thing. Most states don't allow anonymous jackpot winners. I don't know whether or not this would work, but I've heard that you can circumvent that by becoming incorporated and claiming the winnings on behalf of the corporation. I could be entirely inaccuriate, but I would definitely look into that if I won a big one.
You're making a number of assumptions. Suppose his house was owned without the wife having rights of survivorship? Suppose some of the estate was left to somebody other than the spouse, or suppose he didn't have a will? Whether or not there is a surviving spouse isn't the only factor in whether or not the estate goes through probate, or how simple (or protracted) the process is. The only definite way to avoid probate is to have planned in advance to avoid it, such as establishing a trust. Suppose somebody else thinks they should have been a beneficiary? Far more people than an ex-spouse could contest the will, and not having an ex doesn't guarantee that he didnt have a 2nd wife.
No matter what happens, it's a safe bet that she's better off if the prize isn't considered part of the decedent's estate.
BTW, there is an exception to unlimited gifts or estate transfers to a spouse. There are limits if the spouse isn't a US citizen.
Okay, okay. I wanted to keep my post simple, so I didn't get into all the "what ifs" and was only referring to the lottery and other similar gifts. I assume she's a US Citizen. They've been married for 59 years. AFAIK a spouse normally would not pay estate tax. However, since I just went through this (on a much, much smaller scale!) when a relative died, I realize nothing is set in stone and anyone can contest a will or something the deceased left behind. Yes, I agree that a trust is a good way to avoid probate or a lawsuit, but even that doesn't always guarantee you won't have trouble with a difficult person. Take my word for it!
Anyway, if a ticket has never been cashed, then why is it a gift in the first place? There have been many cases where someone gives a winning ticket away and it is never taxed as a gift. The value of the ticket is $1. You can always give a winning ticket away. It's only cheating if you are specifically doing it to avoid paying taxes. He obviously didn't know it was worth any more when he bought it. Who ends up claiming it is irrelevant IMO. A house has real value, so that is entirely different. I do not believe a ticket has any real value until it is validated and claimed.
I don't need to take oyur word. We all know that death and taxes are the only things that are certain (though I'm willing to consider that technology could change the death part).
"The value of the ticket is $1."
That's only true before the drawing. After the drawing it's worth nothing or it's worth the value of any prize it won. If you give a ticket to somebody it's a gift. That's what a gift is, after all. The question is how much the gift is worth, and in the case of a winning lottery ticket that depends on when the gift was made. In terms of any gift tax obligations, there's no difference between giving somebody a ticket that has won $1 million and giving them $1 million.
As I read it, there are no gifts involved in this case. The husband bought the ticket on behalf of both of them, so the wife was an original owner. At worst, she then inherited her husband's half interest in the ticket. If we figure that the inheritance took place at the time of death (though it could take a while to probate the estate), the value of the ticket was still only $1. It only increased in value after ownership had changed. The article implies that the ticket isn't being treated as part of the estate, and I'd assume it will stay that way. If it were treated as part of the estate, it should still be valued at $1, and it's unlikely a will would be written in such a way that the primary beneficiary (presumably the wife) wouldn't inherit full interest in the ticket. In this case I can't really imagine anything other than the wife simply paying income tax on the value of the prize, just as if she had bought it herself the day after he died. OTOH, I can't conceive of any benefit to making a public announcement that somebody else bought the ticket.