OMG! You just checked your lottery ticket for Mega Millions and you won! You check it again, maybe again and again. You feel a strange sensation of falling inward with joy as well as anxiety & panic. You just won all or part of $1.1 Billion dollars! Now what?
According to the Texas Lottery Commission, the very first thing you should do is sign the back of that ticket. Lottery tickets are a “bearer instrument”. Whoever “bears” (holds) the ticket is considered the owner unless the back of the ticket has been signed. So do that first… do it now!
Next, remain calm and most importantly, shut your mouth. Zip it. Avoid all temptation to shout from the rooftops that you have won the lottery. Go totally dark on social media … NEVER announce that you have won the lottery.
At this point the only person who should know is your spouse, that’s it. Don’t even tell your kids. Don’t even call your mother.
Unfortunately, for the current draw (at publication) the $1.1 billion dollar jackpot is being drawn on Friday evening… which means that you can’t do anything until Monday morning. That’s going to be three excruciating days of waiting. Just remember … keep your mouth shut while you formulate a plan.
You will have 180 days to claim the prize, so there is plenty of time to get your ducks in a row. Over the weekend you will likely play around with making endless lists of how to spend your money but think of that as just a game because monday morning the next thing you should do is start looking for an attorney.
Believe it or not, there are attorneys that specialize in lottery winnings. Make some calls & set up two or three interviews. Don’t tell them that you just won the big one, just that you need to discuss your options for a jackpot. When you get to their office, the first thing that you do is make THEM sign a non-disclosure agreement before you discuss anything. If they don’t sign … walk out. YOU are calling the shots now.
When you settle on an attorney, they will also be able to provide you with a financial adviser that will go over the taxes you will owe as well as advise you about the difference between the cash and annuity. They will also advise you on how to invest it … but even with this expert advice, you should seek a second or even a third opinion. Remember, there will always be people who want a piece of the action.
According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, 70% of those who receive large cash windfalls lose them within just a few years. So be smart and get financial advice.
Now you need to make a plan to claim your prize. It starts by calling the Texas Lottery Commission at: 800-375-6886 to complete an initial inquiry on your ticket and to schedule an appointment to complete the processing of your claim.
For this, you will need to travel to Austin. Prizes greater than $5,000,000, all Lotto Texas®, Powerball®, and Mega Millions® jackpot prizes, and prizes paid by annuities must be processed at Texas Lottery headquarters in Austin.
If you are married and have kids, we suggest that you get a babysitter and you and your spouse take separate modes of transportation. One of you would have the original ticket with you and the other a copy. You want to avoid a complete tragedy, right?
BTW, you still haven’t told anyone, right?
Bad things can happen if you spill the beans. Friends, family, and new people will suddenly appear in your life. Abraham Shakespeare was murdered in 2009 after winning a $30 million jackpot. The suspect, a woman who befriended Shakespeare after he won the lottery, shot him twice in the chest and then buried him under a slab of concrete.
Sandra Hayes of Missouri split a $224 million Powerball prize with 11 people, but she soon found that certain acquaintances were more interested in her assets than her friendship. She said that when she dined out with her friends, they would belatedly announce that they didn’t have enough money to foot the bill. “These are people who you’ve loved deep down, and they’re turning into vampires trying to suck the life out of me,” Hayes told The Associated Press.
In the State of Texas, you do NOT have to reveal your identity publicly to claim your prize. Texas, along with Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, North Dakota, Ohio and South Carolina allow anonymity to Mega Millions winners. The 85th Texas Legislature’s regular session in 2017 enacted HB 59 authorizing certain prize winners who win lottery prizes in the amount of $1 million or more to choose to remain anonymous. So chose wisely.
By now you have probably decided whom you are going to tell about your good fortune. But remember, once you let that cat out of the bag you will not be able to get it back. Don’t think that your Mother is not going to blab to her sister… then the sister to the boyfriend… then the boyfriend to the guys at work… then just like the 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon the next thing you know CNN is knocking on your door … whether you chose to “remain anonymous” or not.
That kind of money can get people killed. So we suggest that you don’t tell anyone until after you have claimed the prize. Then, before you let that cat out of the bag, grab your closest family and tell them that you are sending a car for them and to pack their bags for a weekend trip. Get them off to a hotel (in the United States) and don’t let them know what’s going on until you get there.
So now it’s time to brainstorm about the future and your security and put your financial plans into action. And start enjoying the good life.
The good people at State Farm have this to say about your windfall.
“Maintain your perspective and sense of self
Don’t quit your day job. Certainly not until you have your lottery money in hand, but even then consider sticking with some sort of part-time work or at least a passionate hobby. Depending on how important work is to your sense of self, you may want to try a new career or go back to school to study something you’ve always been interested in.
Keep a healthy mind and body. We all know money can’t buy happiness — in fact, some folks say winning the lottery and dealing with the money and requests for help and loans ruined their lives with stress. Eat right, exercise, talk to close family and friends, and seek professional counseling if handling your new wealth is causing too much emotional strain.”
Good advice in our opinion. And now for our disclaimer:
These tips are merely suggestions and should not be considered financial or legal advice. Please consult professionals for specific advice.