Thinking about the $300 million powerball in the news, I wondered…What if a lottery winner dies and he chose the 30 year annuity payment option? Do his heirs collect the rest of the annuity, or does the lottery keep it?
IANAL but the annuity is his even though it hasn’t all been paid yet so it would become part of his estate, therefore go to his heirs according to his will.
in Minnesota it goes to the will benificiary. If no beneficiary is named, then By Law, after additional Estate taxes are taken out, at least Florida.
In Ireland, they just dig you up 
It looks like it depends on the state and exactly what annuity they give you. It could be “x payments or until death of winner (whichever comes first)”, which this page seems to suggest for Michigan:
http://www.financial-planning.com/wwwboard8/messages/5113.html
Thanks, so it depends on the lottery. Yes, reminds me of Waking Ned Devine and Ironic by Alanis “…it’s like the lottery winner, who died the next day”.
In Iowa, the annuity would revert back to the state. Doesn’t seem fair, does it?
I believe the annuity reverts back to the state in Maryland as well. Get that flat pay-off every time.
In CA it becomes part of the deceaseds estate and is distributed accordingly. If you really have that much money laying around you probably have an accountant and or attourney who is going to ask what you want done w/your money in the event of your untimely demise.
In the absence of a law reverting the annuity to the state, if the person dies with out a will (“intestate”), it is distributed according to the state’s laws of intestacy - which vary widely. For example, I have no will right now, and haven’t felt much need for one because my estate would go to my parents, which is exactly what I’d want anyway.