Protecting Your Identity When you hit the lottery, hiring a lawyer will help to protect your identity. This saves you from not only putting a paper bag over your head when you go out in public, but also so that people out there do not try to steal your identity or try to collect your earnings by posing as you.
Mega jackpot: What you should do if you win lottery jackpot, can you stay anonymousBe quiet about winning. ... Make copies of the ticket, secure it. ... Try to stay anonymous. ... Decide if you want to set up a trust. ... Sign your ticket. ... Annuity or lump sum. ... Be prepared for taxes. ... Plan for the future.
Protect your privacy Some lottery winners might be able to form a blind trust through their attorney so that winnings can be anonymously received. "Be sure to change your phone number and set up a new P.O. box beforehand to avoid being inundated with requests," State Farm writes.
Don't Tell Anyone If people find out you won the lottery, someone will have a hand out asking for cash. Of course, every rule has exceptions. There are exactly three people you can talk to about your lottery winnings: Your spouse.
Gifting Some of the Money to Family or Friends A lottery winner can make a gift of some of the lottery winnings. This is legal only up to the annual exclusion limit, or else it will need gift tax liability.
If you elected the cash option or if your prize is only offered in a single payment, your check should arrive approximately six to eight weeks from your claim date. If your prize is to be paid in installments, your first payment should be available within six to eight weeks from your claim date.
What Kinds of Trusts Are Available to Lottery Winners?Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts. Trusts generally fall under the categories of revocable and irrevocable. ... Security of a Trust. ... Exploring Blind Trusts. ... Working With Asset Protection.
Lottery winners can also remain anonymous in states including Delaware, Maryland, Texas and South Carolina, according to the Mission Law Center.
They want the public to know that ordinary people can, and do, win lottery prizes, even incredible jackpot prizes worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Publishing the names of prize winners increases the public's trust in the fairness of lottery draws.
Essentially, the initial taxes taken out of a lump sum payment will be greater right now due to inflation. Taking annuity means that some of your future earnings may not be so heavily taxed and you'll keep more of the original prize.
Winners can remain anonymous depending on the state they live in. Only 11 states allow lottery winners to maintain their anonymity: Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia, and Texas.
0:213:58What Should You Do If You Win The Billion-Dollar Mega Millions Jackpot?YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipStarts you want to be able to assemble a team of professionals. To help you make financial decisionsMoreStarts you want to be able to assemble a team of professionals. To help you make financial decisions that team likely will consist of a attorney an accountant an investment.
Essentially, the initial taxes taken out of a lump sum payment will be greater right now due to inflation. Taking annuity means that some of your future earnings may not be so heavily taxed and you'll keep more of the original prize.
What Kinds of Trusts Are Available to Lottery Winners?Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts. Trusts generally fall under the categories of revocable and irrevocable. ... Security of a Trust. ... Exploring Blind Trusts. ... Working With Asset Protection.
0:213:58What Should You Do If You Win The Billion-Dollar Mega Millions Jackpot?YouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipStarts you want to be able to assemble a team of professionals. To help you make financial decisionsMoreStarts you want to be able to assemble a team of professionals. To help you make financial decisions that team likely will consist of a attorney an accountant an investment.
Right now only seven states allow lottery winners to maintain their anonymity: Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Texas, Ohio and South Carolina. And six states also allow people to form a trust to claim prize money anonymously. California entirely forbids lottery winners to remain anonymous.
If you’re worried about losing the actual ticket during the process of hiring the attorney and others, make copies of it front and back, put it in the safe deposit box as others have suggested, but then take just a copy to a lottery machine that reads the barcode for you to help make sure you are the winner. You can cut out a small size rather than take a large sheet of copy paper, just make sure the barcode is in tact. Make sure no one is standing beside or behind you when you get the reading. Keep the win quiet. Don’t ask a store clerk, just quietly go to a machine by yourself, and leave when it says you’re the jackpot winner without acting excited.
Too often, smiling, beaming attorneys are photographed claiming their clients’ lottery win , which exposes to the world who your attorney is. This means the attorney’s interns, secretary, etc. can be found and coerced into revealing who you are. It means your attorney will be inundated with phone calls all day long at first and possibly on a regular basis for years, which he or she will bill to you for the time it takes to answer them all, and hopefully not slip during the answers and give a bit too much away. In one state, the attorney thought he stated only that the winner was an 87 year old male, and within hours the winner’s house was surrounded by the media and public. Journalists and others are very good at asking seemingly innocent questions and getting more information than the attorney ever realized he or she was giving away. I’ve gotten information from many attorneys just by getting their guard down and asking the type of questions that have me receiving far more information that they didn’t realize they were giving me, than I should have received, regardless of oaths attorneys take to maintain privacy.
If the ticket was misread, or becomes lost or destroyed, and you never collect, they’ll still bill you and you’ll still owe.
An attorney could be necessary because people would pour out of the woodwork attempting to seperate you from your new found wealth.
While many people think winning the lottery is a dream come true, it’s also a curse with enormous responsibility that will require a great deal of courage and great professional advice to allow you to enjoy the winnings.
If you are not a US citizen, you may also require a US tax recovery service at your bay, as a part of your winnings will be held as taxes in the US, which can be recovered later.
You may also want to tell the attorney you have the ticket in a safe deposit box but would like him or her to also verify that it’s a winner before too many of their expensive hours are built up. Give them just a copy and let them look online themselves to verify.
It’s easy to look for a disciplinary record in online databases. If the desired lawyer had any problems with the law, you’d immediately know about it. All that can be relevant because you want someone who’s clean and has no legal issues.
The primary requirement is that you get a skillful and experienced attorney. Even if he’s your friend, you shouldn’t trust a lawyer with no reputable clients in their portfolio.
Staying anonymous. A skillful attorney can help to maximize your anonymity after a lottery win. They can also assist in protecting your privacy if anyone tries to violate it.
You can also visit social networks and professional review websites. You can find feedback from previous clients here. If there are predominantly positive impressions, that indicates the lawyer is reliable.
You want a lawyer who matches your personality and someone willing to dedicate time and effort to your requirements. Perhaps you need someone with a gentle approach? Do you prefer someone more direct who’ll stop you from making poor judgments? It depends on your expectations, so don’t hesitate to choose accordingly.
You have two ways of paying your lawyer. The first one is to agree on a specific hourly rate or fixed fee for specific services. An alternative is to give them a portion of your winnings. The latter isn’t a smart move as it often indicates the lawyer is greedy. An honest expert will charge for their services as you go. That also guarantees they’ll be more dedicated to doing good work. As always, a higher price doesn’t mean the lawyer is better. You should consider other factors to make an informed decision.
You want to hire an expert after you win the prize, but before claiming it. That’s essential because an attorney can ensure the claiming process goes smoothly.
3 People You Must Hire After a Lottery Win 1 The Attorney. This is the first person to hire. An attorney can help you keep the ticket safe until you have your team in place to help you handle your winnings. An attorney may advise you to set up a trust and transfer “ownership" of the ticket to the trust, for which you are the sole trustee. You’ll still receive your winnings, but the trust can save you on taxes. 2 The Financial Advisor. This person will help you set up accounts that keep your money growing in order to guarantee a safe income for you throughout your lifetime. A financial advisor will also investigate any financial investment requests that you will receive from family, friends or people you’ve never heard of, but who will assure you that you can make millions more with their method or product. 3 Accountant. This person will handle all the tax matters and keep you out of trouble with the IRS. After the government takes their initial cut, there are still more taxes to pay.
The Attorney. This is the first person to hire. An attorney can help you keep the ticket safe until you have your team in place to help you handle your winnings. An attorney may advise you to set up a trust and transfer “ownership" of the ticket to the trust, for which you are the sole trustee.
Lavish spending for a few years can quickly lead to burning through millions , and winners often end up declaring bankruptcy. “ People need advisors and accounts set up before claiming their winnings," advises Bruce Ellner, a professional retirement planner with California Pensions, “the professionals will help the winner hold on to as much ...
Sign the back of the ticket immediately. That may sound crazy, but on the back of the ticket is where the owner puts their information (name, address and phone number) when they turn it in. Stake your claim to your winning ticket immediately. A lottery ticket is a bearer instrument. The person who holds it holds its title. That means possession is often the primary consideration. Although disputes can happen and custody can be disputed, whoever signs the ticket and presents a photo ID can claim the prize. You may be requested to verify where you bought it and/or how you obtained custody. Sign it so even if someone takes it, it creates an immediate presumption that it is/was yours.
Powerball tickets are sold in 44 states, as well as in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. As of last time we looked, all but six states require lottery winners to come forward publicly. Delaware, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina allow winners to remain anonymous. Many other states are in the process of enacting such laws- some may even require you to donate some money to charity if you want to remain anonymous. Other states permit winners to create limited liability companies, so that when their names have to be announced, it’s the companies and not individuals that are identified. Think seriously about that.
Make safe moves, and by all means, don’t show it off or brag about it . It’s like Kenny Rogers said (with my own personal remix): Every gambler knows. That the secret to survivin’. Is knowin’ what to throw away. And knowin’ what to keep (locked in a safe) ‘Cause every hand’s a winner. And every hand’s a loser.
Finally, don’t be a woe-filled story. Statistics show lottery winners often find terrible fates. Here are some more stories of the bad days which may follow:
15 minutes of fame is great, but you will have people coming out of the woodwork and your name will be all over. You may (and likely will) regret that in months or years down the road. It is more trouble than it’s worth going public if you can help it. Certain Lottery Commissions will not release the winnings until a press conference is completed, while others give more consideration to the winner’s desire to remain outside of a fishbowl.
Although disputes can happen and custody can be disputed, whoever signs the ticket and presents a photo ID can claim the prize. You may be requested to verify where you bought it and/or how you obtained custody.
Fantasy is all you are going to get unless you beat the nearly impossible 1 in 292,201,338 odds. A few years ago, even the “Powerball people,” (whoever they are) realized that fantasy sells and decided to make it harder to win. They increased the amount of numbers to pick from to engineer bigger jackpots. People didn’t merely fantasize on being a millionaire, but rolling like Trump in the billionaire class.
While we would love to think that if we win 20 million dollars that we would be handed over that exact amount, we mostly all realize that is not the case. That big win comes along with a substantial tax bill that needs to be rectified, either right away or during tax season.
We have all seen the news stories: Local Woman Wins Big Earnings at Her Nearby Gas Station. It is no surprise that the entire community (the whole country, even!) gets excited when there is a lottery winner. It is almost as if they won the prize along with the winner.
If you win a substantial amount of money, you will likely need some legal documents drawn up to see how to best protect your newfound bounty. You will want to put protections in place for yourself and any recipient of the prize money that you choose.
You may ask yourself why would I find myself in the midst of a lawsuit? Unfortunately, as we said earlier, there are many people who are looking to capitalize on another person’s gains.
Winning the lottery is an exciting and once-in-a-lifetime event. It can come at a moment’s notice and most of the time, we purchase our tickets and think that there is no way that it will actually happen to us. We purchase it with a dream and a hope and a dose of reality.
Winners spend a lot of time with their financial team, so it's important to find someone they trust and feel comfortable with. And of course, the lawyer should be familiar with the unique problems lottery winners face.
Big lottery winners may feel overwhelmed by the number of decisions they have to make before they even claim a jackpot. To make things even more confusing, each state that participates in the lottery has its own procedures for claiming a prize and for minimizing tax liability. That's why a lawyer's help really comes in handy.
New lottery winners need to make the decision whether to take a lump sum or an annuity payout. A lottery winner can keep them apprised about the legal and financial ramifications of their choice. Because they know the winner's exact financial status, they can give better advice than the winner would receive by reading articles online.
Another option many lottery winners choose is to set up a trust to claim the prize. In many cases, setting up a trust not only helps protect the winner's identity, but also prevents the winner from spending too much too quickly while fending off requests for handouts and donations. A lottery lawyer can help determine whether a trust is beneficial for the winner and if so, can help set it up.
When you win the lottery, you want to keep the news as private as possible to avoid being the target of lawsuits, scams, and straight-out begging for cash. But keeping the word from spreading isn't a simple task. Some states let lottery winners claim their prizes anonymously. Others don't, but let winners claim in the name of a business, which can reduce the publicity they have to deal with. A good lottery lawyer can help winners protect their anonymity as much as possible.
If you win a large prize in a lottery, getting a good lawyer should be a priority . You'll want to have representation before you tell anyone outside of your immediate circle of family and trusted friends that you've won, and certainly before you claim your prize.
You don't necessarily need a lawyer who brands themselves as a lottery lawyer, but you do want someone who has experience managing large windfalls. Good lottery lawyers have experience with taxes, estate planning, setting up trusts, and protecting assets.
Winning the lottery is literally a one-in-a-million opportunity that can change your life. Lottery winners should protect themselves from the legal ramifications that money can bring.
Many winners choose to stay anonymous because other people might feel entitled to their money. People have a tendency to act selfishly when money is involved, even if they have no legal grounds for it. Having a lawyer on your side in case someone sues you will help protect you before trouble begins.
In 2015, lottery winner Craigory Burch Jr. received $434,272 in a Georgia jackpot. Because his state doesn’t have strong anonymity laws, many heard about his winnings. Within months, Burch was killed by seven masked robbers.
Many lottery winners end up losing a significant amount of their winnings from taxes alone. Your lawyer can also advise you on how to make your winnings last longer, so you get more out of it.