The question is this. In states where a winner can remain anonymous, does that really happen? Or somehow do they get outed?
See, if I won a big one I wouldn’t want to be bothered but I figure someone in the system would squeal on me. I’d make a policy NOT to give anything to groups who come begging.
My age is such that if I won a huge amound of money, 1% would keep me, and I could do more good by spreading it around.
I don’t know the answer to your question, but I can report that I won $4 in last night’s Powerball, and so far nobody’s come a-begging.
mmm
I always assumed you’d form a limited liability company, or some kind of entity where you could remain anonymous, and that entity would accept the winnings. I don’t know how easy it is to find out the officers behind an LLC.
How is it possible that I get absolutely no matching numbers, not even one, both on this draw and the last one? Well, nobody won the big tamale last night, so it’s going up to $1.4 billion.
In 2018, someone bought the winning ticket for a $1.5 billion Mega Millions game in a suburb of Greenville, South Carolina. That’s one of the few states that allows anonymous claimants, so the name was not released. But I’ll bet if you live there you might be able to guess, based on the changing life circumstances of one of your neighbors.
So if you really want to be anonymous, move away before claiming the jackpot and be very careful how you spend the money or talk about it.
Twice as much as I won. It may have been a MegaMillions ticket but I was too excited about the windfall to check.
I think the states will not release the names of winners but a lot of people will find out you have won unless you just take the check and put it in a drawer.
Here’s a rundown on where you can and cannot stay anonymous, and how to do it.
The sister-in-law of a friend of mine won something like $500,000 in the Ontario lottery. She asked that her name be kept secret. Ten minutes after she cashed the ticket her phone started ringing off the hook from charities. It’s not as though that is a life-changing amount either. In fact, she claims to be behind on lotteries for her lifetime.
The problem with anonymous winners is: How do I know that there really was a winner? How do I know that the state didn’t keep the money and lie that there was a winner? Perhaps the winner was the wife of the Lottery Commissioner.
In case you are serious: The lottery companies keep public records. AFAIK they write the checks directly to winners. Perhaps it works differently in some states. I can see an attempt at the small or large conspiracy to steal the money. It’s been done by rigging, hopefully detected in every case so far, but a state official keeping the money seems highly unlikely.
Living in California, I know the winner is made public. But…
Say I win $100 million in Powerball. I secure the ticket (unsigned) and find a powerful law firm in LA. I offer to sign the ticket over to one of the millionaire partners for $1 million less than the cash value. Contracts are signed, the partner takes out a loan for a few million as a down payment to me, and I hand over the ticket. She cashes it in, pays me the rest of what I am owed and we all go away happy, with the general public not knowing I exist, much less exist as a lottery winner.
Seems easier than moving to a different state before collecting your winnings.