# Woman pulls winning lottery ticket out of the garbage, must return it **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 2, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622 "2012-05-02T10:59:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/41 "2012-05-05T14:04:45Z")
> [@Borzo](#): > > If I found a winning ticket in the trash with a signature on it, I’d try to contact the original owner and lawyer up. I’d demand 75% of the winnings, and burn the ticket if she did anything other than agree to give me my cut. Good idea to a point… the same court that would decide it’s her’s would probably find that you owe her the winnings if you destroyed her property. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/42 "2012-05-05T15:21:55Z")
> [@Borzo](#): > > If I found a winning ticket in the trash with a signature on it, I’d try to contact the original owner and lawyer up. I’d demand 75% of the winnings, and burn the ticket if she did anything other than agree to give me my cut. If I were an attorney, I would advise against that. The crime of extortion comes to mind. Also, even if she agreed to your terms, the contract wouldn’t be binding because she agreed under duress. If you are in possession of someone else’s property, it is your duty to return it to them. But as was mentioned upthread, I believe that lottery tickets are bearer documents. I can’t see how putting your signature on them gives that any legal significance except for evidentiary purposes. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/43 "2012-05-05T15:32:46Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > If I were an attorney, I would advise against that. The crime of extortion comes to mind. Also, even if she agreed to your terms, the contract wouldn’t be binding because she agreed under duress. > > If you are in possession of someone else’s property, it is your duty to return it to them. But as was mentioned upthread, I believe that lottery tickets are bearer documents. I can’t see how putting your signature on them gives that any legal significance except for evidentiary purposes. Not only that, but psychological studies on inequality have shown that anything above a 60-40 split will be refused in favor of “nobody gets anything.” Also, you can’t “lawyer up” while you’re still in the process of committing a crime. If you do, it’s called “engaging in a conspiracy.” ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/44 "2012-05-05T15:44:34Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Not only that, but psychological studies on inequality have shown that anything above a 60-40 split will be refused in favor of “nobody gets anything.” But weren’t those studies done with amounts of less than $20? I can see refusing $4 in exchange for the satisfaction of knowing that the other guy didn’t get anything, but if we are talking about $250k, wouldn’t a rational mind kick and tell you to keep it in your pants, that we are giving up a hell of a lot of money here? ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/45 "2012-05-05T15:47:49Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > But weren’t those studies done with amounts of less than $20? I can see refusing $4 in exchange for the satisfaction of knowing that the other guy didn’t get anything, but if we are talking about $250k, wouldn’t a rational mind kick and tell you to keep it in your pants, that we are giving up a hell of a lot of money here? Yes, and you may be right. If it were me, though, I would probably be more motivated to shoot the moon on the off chance that I could avoid being robbed of the $750K, and punish the extortionist to boot. Assuming that I had, for some reason, a winning lottery ticket that I’d signed and discarded. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/46 "2012-05-05T16:07:54Z")
> [@waterj2](#): > > Wait, you can only throw out an old couch once a year? And nobody can just take it? How do broke young people furnish their first apartments without being able to grab free furniture off the curb when other people are moving out? Conservative answer: if you’re broke you don’t DESERVE furniture. Get a better job, you worthless scum! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/47 "2012-05-05T16:11:16Z")
I’m having a hard time understanding how you retain legal possession of something after throwing it away. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/48 "2012-05-05T16:26:14Z")
We still have the question. How does the lady who threw the ticket away, into a trash can with what I assume are other, losing tickets, demonstate that THIS ticket is the one \*she \*bought? Couldn’t this me a mistake on her part…or a ruse? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/49 "2012-05-05T16:39:53Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > We still have the question. How does the lady who threw the ticket away, into a trash can with what I assume are other, losing tickets, demonstate that THIS ticket is the one \*she \*bought? > > Couldn’t this me a mistake on her part…or a ruse? Well, the lottery would know the store and the time that the ticket was purchased. Video surveillance in the store could time stamp her purchase. She could also give evidence of past tickets that she purchased with the same numbers. Also: “I always play 6 and 12 because I was born June 12, and I picked 23 because that’s my son’s age, etc.” I’m not a forensic expert, but maybe they could lift her fingerprints off the ticket proving that she held it before. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/50 "2012-05-05T16:45:54Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Well, the lottery would know the store and the time that the ticket was purchased. Video surveillance in the store could time stamp her purchase. She could also give evidence of past tickets that she purchased with the same numbers. Also: “I always play 6 and 12 because I was born June 12, and I picked 23 because that’s my son’s age, etc.” > > I’m not a forensic expert, but maybe they could lift her fingerprints off the ticket proving that she held it before. Also, if she always played the same numbers, chances are she had one of those punchcard deals with the numbers blacked in. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2012, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/51 "2012-05-05T17:30:53Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > Also, if she always played the same numbers, chances are she had one of those punchcard deals with the numbers blacked in. If she always played the same numbers - she would not rely on a scanner or other human to tell her if it was a winning ticket. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/52 "2012-05-06T19:35:13Z")
> [@simster](#): > > If she always played the same numbers - she would not rely on a scanner or other human to tell her if it was a winning ticket. Presumably she would if she didn’t know what the winning numbers were. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/53 "2012-05-06T23:29:33Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > So the idea is to prevent recycling? That seems really odd. The monetary incentive of finding cans is what gets them recycled. My post mentioned they were put in recycle bins, the council recycles them for the monies… ---
**Author:** ![Borzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/43a26b/32.png) [@Borzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borzo)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2012, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622/54 "2012-05-09T12:26:40Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > If I were an attorney, I would advise against that. The crime of extortion comes to mind. Also, even if she agreed to your terms, the contract wouldn’t be binding because she agreed under duress. > > If you are in possession of someone else’s property, it is your duty to return it to them. But as was mentioned upthread, I believe that lottery tickets are bearer documents. I can’t see how putting your signature on them gives that any legal significance except for evidentiary purposes. > [@What\_the](#): > > Good idea to a point… the same court that would decide it’s her’s would probably find that you owe her the winnings if you destroyed her property. Well luckily where I live you can find a ticket in the trash and claim it as yours without trouble. The only trouble would be if their signature was on it. Of course I’d do all this very carefully and cover my tracks. She forfeited the ticket when she threw it out. If anything, I’m doing her a favour by offering her a portion of the winnings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/woman-pulls-winning-lottery-ticket-out-of-the-garbage-must-return-it/620622.md?page=2)