Wasn’t there just a court case brought by a lottery winner in New Hampshire? If I recall correctly, New Hampshire does allow the winner to form a trust and then the trust can claim the prize. The name of the trust has be on the back of the winning ticket when the prize is claimed. Not knowing this, the woman signed her name to the ticket as soon as she won but then found out about the trust option when speaking to an attorney before she claimed her prize. She sued the lottery commission in NH saying she hadn’t been informed of her options and that she wanted her identity to remain private using the trust option. The commission countered that wasn’t an option since she had already signed the ticket. The judge ruled in her favor and she was allowed to setup a trust and claim the prize. I wonder how many other states allow this?
Just checked - my state would allow me to set up a trust for the winnings. The state where I bought two tickets last week requires the winner to be identified. Guess where I will not be buying a ticket this week. All good to know.
I’ll worry about all that trust/anonymity stuff when I win 
I will buy $20 worth of tickests on Sunday, I usually only buy them for stocking stuffers…
If I win I will not move, I love my house! but will hire a full time house keeper and gardner and remodel the kitchen and bathrooms after paying off all bills. I will give money to my mother as needed and set up trusts for our kids and future grand kids so they don’t have to stress so much about NM and PSAT (actually, we plan to do this even if we don’t win the lottery). We’ll donate to our church and other charities and maybe purchase a vacation beach house on the northern Gulf coast of Florida. It’s unlikey that DH would stop working, he enjoys his job and it would make me crazy having him home 24/7 with nothing to do!
“The only way I would ever buy a ticket is to drive to a nearby state that allows you to claim by forming a trust. Its a bit of a trek though so I will probably never participate.”
So, for $400-500 million net proceeds after taxes, it wouldn’t be worth your time and effort to make that trek?
:-/
“^interesting to know. As of of few years ago, there were only the 2. The lady in the article sued to keep her name private, yet she claimed the prize at the state lotto office within 12 hrs ago or so of the drawing. Number #1, who does that. # 2, by doing so, her name was all over the internet. No chance of that horse going back into to the barn.”
If you’re talking about the woman in NH who won the court case, her identity has never been made public.
^ I didn’t realize it was a different person in NH. I was thinking about the 487 million winner, not the 560 million winner!
I still shake my head about the 487 winner just claiming her prize the next day. Did she think she was just going to deposit a check for her winnings into her checking account? [-(
I’d probably wait 300+ days to claim.
Here in Mayberry there is absolutely no chance of remaining anonymous about winning, esp considering I had decided to keep info on my brain tumor hidden from kids at school and the very first kid I saw returning to school came up and gave me a hug letting me know they were thinking of me and if I ever needed anything… (Hippa is also a non-issue!)
I don’t worry a bit about that. I never worry about the negative things that are iffy at best to happen. Those can always be dealt with when/if they have to be. My H, lads, and I will brainstorm - plus - I kinda think most folks around here would be relatively happy. They might be disappointed that they didn’t win, but with the Foundation I have planned it will be quite good for the general population around here. If my name weren’t public, that alone would get noticed.
I will move, go to court to change my name then claim.
I’d likely keep residence in my same state if I won. I doubt I’d be living in the same town, though.
I don’t care if it’s the loving, nurturing folks of Mayberry or the ranks in NYC, that’s not okay. And it is HIPAA, ftr.
@Nrdsb4 Sorry if I was unclear. Yes, that was definitely a Hipaa issue. My comment meant that in small towns, esp when one is well known enough to teach at school, Hipaa is pretty meaningless. I know some of my co-workers travel a little bit for their health care. With that issue I debated whether I wanted to pursue it or not, but ended up realizing that people literally did care - esp students/co-workers - esp that student because his mom also had a brain tumor, though hers was worse and later took her life. We also had a school janitor who had just passed away from a BT. I was the fortunate one among the three of us.
Had it been gossip on something else I don’t think I’d have been as forgiving.
But reality is such that I know there’s no way anyone winning around here can stay anonymous. They might move away, but word would get around as to why they moved. So much info travels via the grapevine and at school there are many who are super informed via whoever their sources are. It doesn’t really matter if the “news” reports on things or not.
Creekland and I must live in the same town.
Whoever wins I hope they’re smart about it and don’t end up dead like so many previous winners.
Wow—awful that so many bad things happen to many of the “winners.”
I’m glad our state hadn’t legalized gambling. We have enough problems already! Really sad to read about lottery winners who were killed!
I don’t understand why states require the lottery winners names to be public—I mean I understand that they have to show that the prize was won but so many bad consequences can flow from the publicity. A trust sounds like at least some protection from the publicity but probably some digging can unearth the beneficiaries.
I was in the grocery store so I bought a few tickets. My husband is stuck in the hospital and it is entertaining us looking at real estate and talking about endowing various scholarships and foundations.
I started thinking about security concerns since California requires that your name be released. With that amount of money, would we need bodyguards? What about our son? And other relatives - niece and nephew? Do Americans still get kidnapped for ransom?! Obviously you need major changes in security just to protect against solicitations at a minimum, but how much more?
I’d wait until it’s your ticket/numbers drawn before getting worked up about all those Qs. I didn’t buy a ticket so I don’t have to worry about increasing security. Phew!
You are missing the point, HImom, this is for fun!
My DH is in the hospital, so for less than the cost of a movie ticket we spent the afternoon laughing about where to buy what type of property, what percentage should go to a charitable irrevocable trust (the vast majority), and what the trust should focus on.
For us
Condo at Keystone vs house at Whistler?
Kauai vs Kona?
Buying vs just renting luxury vacation homes?
Building a “family compound” at a vacation spot?
For the trust
Funding individual scholarships vs an endowed chair?
Focus on underserved populations in US or gloval?
And, I really did buy a few chances, so there is that infinitesimal possibility that these plans might happen.
“Mega Millions players in Maine plunked down $1.3 million Friday in the hopes of winning the $1 billion jackpot…The chance of matching all six numbers is one in 302.5 million.” Sigh.
Yes, I’ve already determined some causes which would get major funding. I figure if friends and family didn’t come out of the woodwork to visit us when we moved to San Diego, why would they appear if we got a billion dollars? $-)
I’m actually not even sure how to buy a ticket - I did it once a couple of years ago; I think I need to buy from a machine. Hope everyone in line behind me won’t get annoyed as I try to figure out what to do…