No, I want a tax lawyer to manipulate the legal system for me and get me out of as many taxes as possible 
I don’t know what I don’t know. That’s why I’d hire a lawyer.
Maybe there are incredibly weird tax implications depending on how I accept the money.
Maybe I need report the receipt of a sum this great to some government body besides the IRS, or maybe that report needs to happen on the date of the receipt.
Maybe when I agree to it, she’s got some little form she wants me to sign acknowledging receipt, and the hell of it is in the fine print.
For the sae reason that I take a used car to a mechanic before I purchase it, I’d take this toa lawyer before accepting it.
I’m not sure exactly what the OP is driving at. What’s the main difference between getting it as a check and getting it as a wire transfer? Is the wire transfer less likely to bounce?
Since an apparently legit attorney is offering the money and there is no palpable evidence of fraud, money laundry or other shenanigans, then I would feel pretty safe in accepting the money. Surely, if the money turned out to be stolen or drug money then I have a pretty strong defense in saying that I was given the money by a licensed attorney who assured me of its legitimacy.
I would refuse it.
Someone’s been watching reruns of “The Millionaire” from the 1950s. They always used a “cashier’s check.”
Wire me the money.
I think there would be several lawyers that would accept the money after the transfer, and you could likely get a loan. That’s what makes the Nigerian scams so obviously scams: they want you to put up money to get money.
The reason I throw the lawyer in is that, if he says it’s okay, and it isn’t, he’s the one to blame. Though I’d have to be careful to choose a lawyer I trust not to create some sort of weird loophole. I’d probably hire a lawyer friend I know from my church. He’s quite often taken a hit financially due to his morals.
Heck, I’d say “wire the money” so fast they wouldn’t get their spiel finished.
Bugger a lawyer, can’t afford one if it turns out to be a scam. I’ll take the money and run, because I’m currently desperate, and will weather the consequences sometime down the track. Anything is better than the mess I’m in right now.
I’m not a tax lawyer, but I doubt the money would be taxable. (for the recipient) It’s not income. It’s a gift. There may be gift tax repercussions for the giver, but that’s not my problem. Just hand me the check.
Lawyer. I’m curious as to who is giving me this money, but I’m not so curious that I’d refuse it if I didn’t know who it came from.
Now, if Ms. Jones and/or Davis tells me that I have to pay a fee out of my own pocket in order to get this money, I will respond with a finger gesture and tell her or them that I wasn’t born yesterday.
I’d want a lawyer to go through the documentation to make sure that I wasn’t under any obligations upon taking the money. Having ascertained that, I’d accept the money and wish a “Thank you” to my unknown benefactor, who I presume to have his own reasons for keeping secret which – particularly given what I am receiving – I am willing to think is damned well his choice to make.
I’m with Quartz and GuanoLad. I’d get a lawyer (I’m willing to bet there are lawyers who would take this for a fairly small contingency fee), but I’m not in a position where I could afford to turn it down, as long as I’m covered legally. I’d try to be worthy of the money once my immediate issues had been addressed, by passing some of it on to those who are in as great or greater need, but I would make sure I had enough to sustain me for the rest of my life first.
I take the money immediately, via wire transfer. Then I can call my sister, who’s a CPA to discuss any tax implications. If you don’t happen to have a sibling who is a CPA, I would recommend getting a decent tax firm to help you avoid any penalties or other IRS issues.
Why immediately? Because tomorrow, the offer may not still be there. Nobody is under any legal obligation to give me 5 cents, not even if they call me into their office to promise me a fortune. If my anonymous benefactor decides to change his mind, he’s going to have to ask me for the money back. If he does, I’ll employ the “No Backsies” legal defense.
Mind you, the proposition here does not indicate that I will be asked to sign anything binding, or promise to use the money in any way other than to fulfill my personal wishes.
Well, my biggest question to a lawyer would be “In what circumstances can anyone (the donor, law enforcement, IRS) come and take this back from me?” I mean, the feds are taking back money people withdrew from their Madoff accounts (not saying that’s wrong, for the record, just saying it’s a possible concern here); I know drug profits can be seized, etc. I don’t know whether they could come take it back from the recipient of an anonymous gift.
Morally, I have no problem taking the money and running – not that I’d expect to spend all of it on me, especially if I find out it’s from something bad, in which case the majority of it is destined for benefiting the victims.
Quercus has the telling question, is it possible for the money to be guaranteed string-free without knowing the provenance?
But even if it were, I guess my reactions would be:
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In real life, it would be hard to determine it wasn’t some sort of scam: scams can be incredibly convincing if they think they can get much out of it. (Or a sort-of scam, like a reality TV show which is not strictly fraudulent, but doesn’t have your best interests in mind.)
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If I was convinced that I actually would get the money (say, the offer came through a solicitor I personally knew and trusted, who said he was confidentially prevented from telling me where it was from or if I’d approve, but he knew it was a legitimate offer), I would most worry it was the start of some sort of blackmail, that I’d later do a favour for someone and then it’d look like they’d bribed me. (Why someone would WANT to do that, I don’t know.)
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If I was convinced that wasn’t the case, and it wouldn’t bite me, but might come from an unsavoury source, then I’m not sure. I think I’m morally fine to take it, but I would feel bad if it came from a source I disapproved of. A possible compromise would be to, say, donate half to a charity of your choice, or to invest it and use the proceeds but not the capital.
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The question of the bad charity I think is a separate one. If the charity is just annoyingly misguided and doesn’t do much good, then I would decide by the criteria in #2. However, if the charity actively brings about harm and death[1] then that’s an awful sort of blackmail, but you have to choose between the harm done (most chairites do good as well) and the harm potentially done in case #2.
[1] Yes. Eg. American charities which would give money to the IRA, so-called Christian charities which would discourage people from using condoms even in AIDs-prevalent areas, etc.
Has no-one here read Great Expectations? An anonymous benefactor certainly did not make Pip happy.
I think I would refuse. I am normally a trusting sort of person, but I would not be able to shake off the feeling that there had to be a string attached, no matter how good a lawyer I could find. Besides (and I know this sounds incredibly sanctimonious, but I don’t care because it happens to be true) - my life is rich already, I don’t really need that money. I am happy as I am (although certainly far from wealthy in monetary terms).
Cash (unmarked, non-sequential bills of varying denomination) in a briefcase, delivered to “me” by a sole, unwired person in an area devoid of camera surveillance.
I’d whip out my swiss army accountantlawyer because it sounds scamalicious but I have no moral qualms about accepting a shitpile of money from a stranger.
Thank you stranger, do feel free to introduce yourself and I’ll take you for a ride in my shiny new R-44.
It would be tax-free because it’s a gift. As Procrustus pointed out @29, the giver (or his/her estate) is responsible for dealing with the tax consequences, if any.
I wouldn’t accept it because the whole thing sounds like a scam.
In the world where I live large sums of money are not given anonymously for no discernible reason. People give money even large sums anonymously for charitable reasons. Since I cannot find a discernible reason here I would assume it it because the giver is trying to hide something that will probably not be to my benefit.