When I said I wouldn’t tell the world, I wouldn’t particpate in a press conference. I’d collect my winnings as quietly as possible, and if it is legal in Florida, go the route zamboniracer described.
My wife and I have discussed. Since we never buy tickets it is only slightly less likely to ever happen to us.
But if we won a really big amount we’d wait about 2/3rds of the way through the claim window. Let the initial publicity of the big win (and the “where’s the winner” stories) die down but not late enough for the “In X more days that huge jackpot will go unclaimed!” stories to start up.
We’d spend the intervening time talking to lawyers, accountants, and estate planners to figure out exactly what we can do to minimize public exposure and how to set things up for dodging the effects of what publicity can’t be avoided.
Then I would run for mayor of New York on a campaign platform of “None of the Above”
One of the big lottery winners (he had a mansion down in Palm Beach, FL, and eventually lost it due to nonpayment of HOA fees) had to tell the post office to stop delivering mail unless it was specifically addressed to him by name. He kept getting a lot of letters addressed to “Powerball Winner”.
No one seems to have taken on this tack, yet.
Sure, if I were ever to win the New York State Lotto with millions of dollars, I’d be “out there.”
But what would there be to prevent me from “disappearing” from all but family, and reappearing as someone else, with a new address as well as a new name?
A change of name is clearly not illegal, unless the process is for an illegal purpose. Or would I be forced to be identified under the new name?
True Blue Jack
Others having given useful answers already, I suppose I must give the annoyingly pedantic answer:
Of course you can win the lottery anonymously.
Collecting your winnings, on the other hand . . . .
It appears to be state-specific. For the PowerBall states (from http://www.powerball.com/pb_contact.asp):
CAN I REMAIN ANONYMOUS WHEN I HIT THE JACKPOT?
All but three states (DE, KS, ND) have laws that require the lottery to release the name and city of residence to anyone who asks. One state (SC) will keep your name secret if you request it, but if someone files a Freedom of Information Act request, you may have to file a plea with the judge to deny it. Photos and press conferences are always up to you. Most of the time, it is advisable to get it over with the press so that you don’t have one or more reporters following you around to get that “exclusive” interview. A few more lotteries may work with you on setting up a trust or other partnership. You or your representative should contact the lottery for the details after you win.
Other relevant articles:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_20060929/ai_n16762719
http://www.lotterypost.com/news/114909.htm
Vermont also allows you to remain anonymous (Frequently Asked Questions | FAQ Section | Vermont Lottery):
Q: If I win, can I remain anonymous?
A: The name, town and prize amount on your Claim Form is public information. If you put your name on the Claim Form, your name becomes public information. If you claim your prize in a trust, the name of the trust is placed on the Claim Form rather than your name, and the name of the trust is public information.
Yeah, when i was a kid, my mother played the Lotto in Sydney. IIRC, the Lotto form had a little box you could check titled NFP, which meant that your identity was Not For Publication in the event of you winning the jackpot. Not sure if there’s still a similar box to check.
In Spain it’s anonymous. Government loteries are not taxed as revenue on that year (earnings generated by them can be taxed as revenue on following years, and the bulk amount itself can be taxed as patrimony). There was a big hullabaloo when some genius had the notion to tax winners of the Red Cross Golden Lottery, a special instance which is run by the national lottery but the benefits go to the Red Cross and the prizes are given as bars of gold instead of cash - the government withdrew the change before it got before the first set of judges and paid costs for the lawyers who’d been representing the Red Cross’ and the winners.
You see people celebrating their winnings in the Christmas Lottery every year, but it’s because they want to. Plus that particular one tends to be enormously split: a store or civic association buys a whole number and then sells “pieces” of it for cost plus a fee; several friends buy a single ticket among all of them… so each of the people who hit the 20M “special ticket” may have gotten five figures. A nice bite off the mortgage but nothing to retire with.
Winners of big prizes (Loto 6-49 and similar) are normally not identified. You just get a spokesperson from the group that runs that particular lottery saying that “the winner has been identified and the moneys have been delivered.”
From memory in New South Wales, Australia the reason for the NFP or Not for publication option was the Grahame Thorne case. His parents won one of the very early Opera House lotteries with a prize of $200,000 Aus. Grahame was kidnapped, held for ransom and eventually killed. The kidnappers got all the information they needed from the lottery win publicity. In my opinion based on this case, this is a very good option .
Yes that it still true. Most winners aren’t identified by name and many give no identifying details. For example recently :
*Friday 15 June 2007
The $9 million dollar first division Powerball prize from last night’s draw has been claimed in Wagga Wagga this afternoon.
The local winner is delighted with the windfall but has asked to remain anonymous. *
Wagga WHAT?!