Once the initial euphoria wears down and you are “Snoopy Danced” out. Sorry I have no idea how long that takes. The moment will come when you have to make some decisions about how to receive your lottery winnings.
Everyone seems to assume the winner or winners, (yes brace yourself you are likely going to have share the jackpot with other winners) will take the jackpot as a lump sum. The biggest winner of all is government at all levels. Each state involved gets a cut of the ticket sales and the state or states where the jackpot winners live get to tax the jackpot. Yesterday State Senator Tim Carpenter (D) WI put out a press release about his plans for spending the estimated $65,790,000 tax windfall if a Wisconsin resident won the $1.4 billion. This windfall of state income tax pales in comparison to federal tax take at 39.6% ($343,728,000).
If the winner is a Wisconsin resident who decides to take the estimated lump sum payout $868,000,000 they would realize a net after tax payment of $458 million ($458,482,000.) This is only 33% of the $1.4 Billion. That’s right if a winner takes the jackpot in a lump sum they only get a check for 33% of the winnings. Of course that is still a life changing amount of money.
Almost all financial advisors, lawyers, accountants, bankers and other investment advisors tell the winner to take the lump sum because they will quickly make back the annuity reduction and tax bite. A client with $458 million is big in the financial and legal industry. Inside they are referred to as whales or elephants. So it’s hard for many advisors to tell this potential client to take the larger $1.4 Billion as an annuity payment over 30 years.
Annual annuity payment is about $46.7 million ($46,666,666) State and federal tax each year is $22,049,999 this nets the winner $24.6 million ($24,616,667) after taxes each year for 30 years. That is a seriously nice income payment which would leave a substantial amount to invest each year after all the celebratory spending. Best of all the winner will receive a total $738,500,000 compared to $$458 million net lump sum.
Advantages of annuity payments
- Minimize taxes
- Guarantees $24.6 million income for 30 years
- No investment risk, all investments come with the risk of loss.
- Helps prevent fraud
- Spend thrift tendencies will not wipe out winnings in one year
One of the biggest arguments against an annuity is “your money is tied up.” Wrong. Not these days. There are investor groups who buy annuities. They compete against each other because an annuity income is valuable. If a winner changes their mind later and wants a lump sum for whatever reason they can sell the annuity payments to the highest bidder. In the current economic conditions this would net the winner about 15-20% more than taking the lump sum payment immediately from the Powerball lottery.
A winner has 180 days to claim the Powerball before their ticket expires. Winner has 60 days from the date of their ticket claim to chose the lump sum. Then the annuity payment is mandatory and there is no changing that from the lottery. Historically only a handful of winners take the annuity option leaving a pile of cash on the table. If many of these had waited 61 days they could have sold their annuity and had more money in their account.
How to stay anonymous:
Good luck with that. These days it’s impossible to keep secrets. Thanks to the internet and other technology society gets more and more transparent everyday. So even in the handful of states have laws to allow jackpot winners to stay anonymous they’ll be found out. Most states require winners to go public.
Changing your name to claim the prize and then changing back again will not work. All states forbid changing a name when fraud is intended. If a state requires disclosure of the winner and they change their name… Sure looks like a fraud. No reason to go there. Many states require name changes be published in the local newspapers for a period of time. Where are newspapers published these days? Online.
No hope of anonymity so it’s best to make plans to deal with your rock stardom should fate see fit to pick you. And that will be the topic of a future post.
Mr. Barton — You probably won’t publish my entire note. So, I’ll start things out with an error you made on this page. You said, quote, “However, if a ticket is not redeemed within 60 days of the drawing the annuity payment is mandatory and there is no changing that from the lottery.”
Not true – even in Wisconsin. It’s 60 days from the day the ticket is VALIDATED (redeemed), not 60 days from the date of the DRAWING.
OK, now to your comments that appear specifically directed to the advice on my LuckyYou site.
One final point. Yes, petitions for name change do appear in newspapers – both online offline. But if the petition appears 90 days before its approval, at a time when only the winner knows they’re a winner, who would care? News-wise, the petitioner would be a Joe Nobody. And 90 days later when the petition is approved, who would remember it? Further, these notices appear only in the “legal” section of the classified ads. I can’t for the life of me think of anyone I know who reads that section – except people in private/public law enforcement capacities and collection agents – looking for people trying to elude them.
Thank you for pointing out my error, it’s corrected above. I do not usually edit comments rather I contact the commenter so that they can make changes. Yesterday I sent you email and filled out the contact form on your site requesting you edit your very long comment. Since I did not hear back I edited on your behalf. Rest assured the parts of my post referring to name change were NOT directed at you personally. Many blog across the internet make this suggestion and some readers requested I address this issue. There will be a more in depth post discussing different ways to try to stay anonymous. Feel free to express your opinion. Please keep in mind links to other unknown websites are automatically removed from the body of comments for security reasons.
Btw, the email I sent bounced back as undeliverable address not found.
Not sure why it bounced. I’m always getting email at the address shown in my comments. It’s a POP email address that automatically downloads email to my computer – so I’d never have an issue with space (assuming the email was less than 250 megs in size). If you could email me the bounce post you got with full header info intact, I could investigate.
Yes, I notice you edited out my comments as they pertain to legal name changes. It’s your site.
P.S. to my last. I had a legal name change in 1992 via Clark County District Court in Vancouver, Washington. It wasn’t lottery related (grin) – just an internal family matter. The petition notice appeared in the Columbian newspaper for one week – then disappeared. And no notice of petition “approval” was ever published (I checked) – just the initial petition.
Just one final note on legal name changes and the lottery. In order for the crime of “fraud” to exist, someone has to be the victim of material damage or loss ($$$). If a lottery commission is required to pay a winner, say, one million dollars, they’ll pay the winner one million dollars – regardless of whether the winner’s “legal” name was J. Alec West or Clem Kadiddlehopper (grin). Since the payout would be the same regardless of the winner’s “legal” name, no material damage or loss would be involved. And if there’s no material damage or loss, there’s no fraud.
Lawyers from big law firms are scrutinized by their firms before they’d ever trust a lawyer to someone like you, New Lotto Winner. In other words, they’re not going to let a crook lawyer be your counsel because it would be a PR nightmare for them if that lawyer ripped you off.
These big law firms have as much money as you’ve just won IN CASH and in many cases much, much more than that. Woah! These law firms are RICH. Which means if one of their lawyers rips you or your trust/LLC off, then you can sue the FIRM for your losses. And they won’t be able to hide behind bankruptcy. They’d settle out in a heartbeat because they don’t want a court case telling the world that one of their clients was ripped off. And they know the law well enough to know you’d win.
In other words, these guys won’t rip you off. They’d rather keep you as a customer.
That said, it is still very important that you scrutinize and get a lawyer that you trust. I’d suggest getting a lawyer from the most or one of the most well respected firms in your state. If you’re in a state with lots of people (New York, California, Illinois, Texas) you’ll have lots to choose from. There’s a number of lawyer review websites and the like that can rank “top lawyers” if you need to research. Getting one from one of these firms is best. As far as I know you don’t have to get a lawyer from one of your own states, but if they’re already practicing (and licensed) in your state, it seems to be that that’d be best. Again, don’t get your friend or uncle or anyone personally connected to you to be your lawyer, you’ll get too close to having your anonymoty pierced. Get someone big who doesn’t know you to take care of forming your trust or LLC for you, and have either him/her OR some associate at the firm to claim the money for your trust/LLC.
Big law firms have lots of different lawyers. Regardless whether or not you claim via a trust or LLC, I suggest first talking to a “family lawyer/trust lawyer/estate attorney” all names for the same kinds of people. Trust attorneys are often also knowledgeable of LLCs and can work with you and your friends if you need to claim that together. They can also do as I explained above, form trusts for each of you personally for after the money comes into your LLC. If you go with a big firm, they’ll team up with their tax attorneys and other attorneys to help you get the best tax and investment benefits too.
At this point, before the lawyer goes to claim the lotto ticket, the back of the ticket will be signed with your trust/LLC and plenty of evidence (your trust/LLC will have been formed and there will be a large paper trail with you and with your new law firm leading you to be the true owner of the ticket) so that no one would be stupid as to try to steal your winnings. You’re good. Sit at the firm or a local bar and watch the press conference on TV. Heck! Go ahead and draft up a press release for your lawyer to say at the conference. You can tell the truth (I’m a 30 year old construction worker who’s been buying tickets for 10 years and plays with 2 friends. I plan to donate to xxx and spend my money first on a new car and a college education for my niece) or lie if you want–though
Bruce — Sure, I’d trust a lawyer from a large firm. I’d trust them to inflate their billable hours as much as they thought they could get away with to “milk” me for all they could get. Lawyers aren’t philanthropists, they’re business persons. Personally, I’ll just stick with a simple name change – followed by a road trip – followed by a name change reversal.
If I legally change my name, will the Tennessee Lottery release a former name to the public if a name change occurred before redemption?
Winner information on file with the Tennessee Lottery would be name used to claim prize and confirmed by submitted ID documents. You should seek personal legal advice.
Thank you for playing the Tennessee Lottery and good luck!
Thank you-TEL Player Services
Contact Us link- http://www.tnlottery.com/contactus/contact.aspx
Have fun and please play responsibly.
Bruce — Yes, that’s the same answer Andrea Hyde from Wisconsin Lottery gave me – which should pretty much put the question of releasing a former name to rest. If you’re curious as to “why” they won’t release a former name, click on my username (this post only) to visit a special page on my site – scrolling down to near page-bottom and read below the black line separator.
Tennessee Name change actions can take anywhere from a day, to six (6) months (sometimes even longer). The time it takes for such action to be ordered/decreed varies not only from county to county, but sometimes from courthouse to courthouse as well. Should time be a major factor for you, to see how long a name change at your local courthouse will take to process, we recommend that you contact the courthouse where you anticipate filing your particular legal action
You can preserve your anonymity by using a Revocable trust, Blind trust or a LLC. But if you really what to preserve your anonymity; change your name and create a Revocable trust with your new name as the trustee. The only name that will be given out, is the the name of the Revocable Trust.
Bruce — Some states (like Oregon) require that a jackpot be redeemed by (their words) “a natural person” – meaning no trusts or LLCs. And I only know of 3 states that allow anonymity to the principals of a trusts or LLCs (Colorado, Connecticut, Vermont). A lot of states like my state (Washington) may allow trusts or LLCs to claim jackpots – but will not guarantee the anonymity of the principals. Google the search terms “Villegas” and “lottery” to see what happened in Washington in 2007. Even the Villegas’s lawyer was taken by surprise on that one.
When claiming a prize through a Trust, the Tennessee Lottery needs identity documentation for the grantor and all ultimate beneficiaries. State law requires that specific debt set-offs be deducted before payment of lotteries winnings of $600 or more. Once we are in possession of these documents and information, records are generated. If requested, the name, city and state must be made available under the Tennessee Open Records Act. The Tennessee Lottery always advises winners of large prizes to consult an attorney to determine if the method selected to claim the prize is sufficient to achieve the winner’s desired objectives.
The second largest prize and fourth Powerball jackpot won in Tennessee was claimed today at the Tennessee Lottery’s Nashville headquarters. The $144.1 million ticket, purchased at Hobson Tobacco and Beer, 2216 Hobson Pike in Antioch, was claimed by the Avondale Revocable Trust.
The only information that the Tennessee Lottery will give out, is the name of the trustee if requested by the Open Records Act. So changing your name and using a trust will keep your Anonymity.
Do you work for the Tennessee Lottery?
No I do not work for the Tennessee Lottery. This is a response I received when I inquired about redeeming the Powerball with a trust.
When claiming a prize through a Trust, the Tennessee Lottery needs identity documentation for the grantor and all ultimate beneficiaries. State law requires that specific debt set-offs be deducted before payment of lotteries winnings of $600 or more. Once we are in possession of these documents and information, records are generated. If requested, the name, city and state must be made available under the Tennessee Open Records Act. The Tennessee Lottery always advises winners of large prizes to consult an attorney to determine if the method selected to claim the prize is sufficient to achieve the winner’s desired objectives.
TEL – Player Services
Thank you-TEL Player Services
Contact Us link- http://www.tnlottery.com/contactus/contact.aspx
Have fun and please play responsibly.
—–
This email is in response to the comment below:
When claiming a Powerball winning ticket with a revocable trust. Can you sign the Powerball ticket with the Trust name only? Or do you have to sign the ticket with the trustee and trust name.
Bruce — Thank you for mentioning that Tennessee info. I verified this via 4 online news sources – The Tennessean newspaper, WZTV in Nashville, WKRN in Nashville, and a press release from the Tennessee Lottery. But the WZTV story had an interesting paragraph, quote, “Not much is known about Avondale Revocable Trust. The communications director for the Tennessee Lottery says it is not a business, there was only one winner and they are located in the Nashville area.” This brings up a question … do they allow anonymity to the winner “only” if the winner is not a “business” (ie., an LLC)? It could be trusts guarantee anonymity in Tennessee but LLCs might not. Of course, even if anonymity is protected, this likely applies only to trusts in the state of Tennessee. BTW, was this a Tennessee “law” protecting the identity of trusts … or a “Tennessee lottery rule?” If the latter, it could be changed in the future without notice – just like what happened to the Villegas couple in Washington in 2007. Even their trust lawyer was taken by surprise.
The lotteries are required by law to do a background check prior to payment of any funds. This is in order to make sure the winner has no delinquent child support, alimony, liens, taxes or other fines. A change of name is going to show up during this background check. In WI a name change will be made public by the lottery at that point. Lotteries view the disclosure of winner identities as having real dollar value for promotion of the lottery.
Tim — If a court of law declares that effective 4/15/2016 my legal name is George Jones, and if I fill out a lottery claim form the next day, I’ll put George Jones on a lottery claim form and sign it George Jones. Why? Because on 4/16/2016, my legal name is George Jones. Are you suggesting that if a woman bought a ticket as Freda Smith, then got married and became Freda Popinjay before redeeming her winning ticket, the lottery commission would be required to reveal her “maiden name” to the media? I’d find that very hard to believe. Yes, a background check would reveal a name change. But lotteries are required to release a winner’s “legal” name to the media & public. They have neither the responsibility nor legal obligation to out anyone’s “former” name. Besides that, it would be silly.
It is conceivable that the lottery will tip off the press to the “sudden” name change. That’s a newsworthy human interest story which garners the lottery games a lot media attention. Even if they did not tip off the press it’s very likely some enterprising reporter is going to quickly and easily dig up that angle.
After reading how the Washington state lottery went after the Villegas in court to expose them; it seems very likely someone in the lottery is going to be an anonymous source.
It’s very likely someone getting married thereby changing their name just prior to claiming a lotto prize is going to draw more attention. After all that’s a great human interest story as to (why?) The press is going to want interviews, probably with both sides of the family. The lottery may not do any disclosing but in this age literally anyone can easily access public records.
I receive this email from Gary Derryberry(attorney). Gary redeem a lottery ticket with a Living Trust .
You are correct in points 1-5. Name the trust any name you want except your name. Remember me when you win the lottery.
1. Don’t sign the back of the ticket yet. (Take pictures/video of it with your id next to it maybe to keep things safe?)
2. Set up a living trust with an attorney. You are the grantor and beneficiary and the lawyer is the trustee.
3. Sign a document stating you are donating the winning ticket to the trust. Sign the name on the back of the ticket with the name of the trust.
4. Have the lawyer claim the winnings as the trustee on behalf of the trust.
5. Only the lotto commission will know your identity (they have to verify you are of age and legal and aren’t evading child support, etc.). The general public will NOT know the identity of the beneficiary. They will only see the name of the trustee on the Trust, even if they file for a Freedom of Information act.
You can Set up the LLC, with an attorney as an “agent” to collect the winnings to preserve your anonymity. The LLC and agent name would only be given out to the public; not the owner of the LLC. Do not be the manager of the LLC directly, since your name will therefore be tied to the LLC.
The attorney will execute documents with the LLC to show that he’s working in behalf of the LLC.
Have the attorney claim the winnings as a LLC.
Whether you want to retain the attorney(agent) after the winnings have been collected is up to you.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Nothing in Tennessee law requires a winner to be a natural person. A trust, corporation, or LLC can claim a prize. The documentation that is required to show that a person has the authority to collect the prize on behalf of a trust or corporation would include a copy of the papers required for such an organization, like minutes of a corporation, trust papers, etc. We would also need proof that the person presenting the documentation is the authorized person. Thus, we would need information about the owners of the corporation or the members of the LLC.
Further, in the case of a trust, in order to perform the necessary tasks to pay the winner, we also would need the documentation for the ultimate beneficiary. Once we are in possession of these documents, they become “records,” and if requested, must be made available under the Tennessee Open Records Act.
Please consult your attorney to determine if the method you select should you win Powerball or Mega Millions (after January 31) is sufficient to achieve your goal of anonymity.
Thank you–TEL Player Services
————————————————————————————————————————–
If what you say is true, that formation papers of trusts/LLCs/corporations become a “record” that can be released under the Open Records Law, then anonymity is only guaranteed at ticket redemption time. In other words, the Lottery Commission itself isn’t required to release info on the formation papers at the moment of redemption – BUT – is required to release info on the formation papers simply by being “asked” for them in the legally required way. Anonymity is therefore implied but not guaranteed.
That’s not exactly true….On a LLC the Lottery Commission would only release the LLC name and Agent name: not the owner of the LLC. On a Revocable Trust they only release the trustee name and trust name. Not the beneficiary of the trust. I requested an open record request on the Avondale Revocable Trust; the only information they gave out is the trustee name (William Timothy Hill) not the beneficiary name. If you want 100% anonymity, then you should change your name and redeem your ticket as a Revocable Blind Trust.
From: Gary Derryberry [mailto:gary@heritagetrust.com]
Sent: Wed 12/3/2008 2:32 PM
To:
Subject: Heritage Trust reply to your email
Mr. Evans, congratulations on your lottery winnings. I know you must be thrilled and in a state of turmoil all at the same time.
By way of introduction, I am Gary Derryberry and a Vice President and Trust Officer at Heritage Trust Company. I currently work with 2 lottery winners. One is $100M and the other $84M. You have asked some very good questions and I can tell you have given it considerable thought.
It is however, very difficult to answer the questions via email. I would be more than happy to visit with you and try to answer your questions. I think it would be better if you gave me a call at your convenience and we can discuss your circumstances more thoroughly. My number is 1-877-887-8899. I look forward to visiting with you.
Again, congratulations.
Gary Derryberry
Bruce — It all sounds good – for people in Tennessee. But, the unanswered question remains – namely, is this a “Tennessee state law” or just a “Tennessee Lottery rule?” Rules can change on a whim. Prior to December 2007, the Washington State Lottery Commission honored the anonymity of principals behind a trust. But, they apparently had a change of heart and changed their rules … to the great surprise of the trust’s lawyer and ultimately the Villegas couple who thought they’d be protected from public scrutiny. Recently, I updated the “trusts & LLCs” part of my Lucky You site to advise people to always have an attorney check for the current “rule” before even bothering to form a trust or LLC. Better to be safe than sorry (like the Villegas couple).
From: Robertson, Kevin [mailto:KRobertson@bakerlaw.com]
Sent: Tue 2/17/2009 3:00 PM
To:
Subject: RE: lottery
Bruce:
The beneficiary can (and usually does) retain full authority to direct the trustee as to investments and distributions, so the “blind trustee” is simply an agent for making the lottery claim anonymously. Of course, the “blind trustee” must be trusted completely, as it is the blind trustee that actually “delivers” the ticket to the lottery commission, “claims” the prize (on behalf of the beneficiary) and deposits the winnings. Also, under some recent statutory changes, it now is required that the blind trustee “disclose” the identity of the ultimate beneficiary to the lottery commission (on a “confidential” basis, not for public disclosure) to allow the commission to confirm that the actual winner/beneficiary is not behind on child/spousal support or tax payments.
Kevin
From: Robertson, Kevin [mailto:KRobertson@bakerlaw.com]
Sent: Tue 10/13/2009 4:52 PM
To:
Subject: RE: BLIND TRUST AGREEMENT
Dear Mr. Evans:
Whether a “blind trust” may be used to preserve the confidentiality of a lottery winner depends primarily on the state law in which the winner resides (assuming that the lottery ticket is purchased in his/her home state). I confess that I do not know what the Tennessee Lottery Commission’s rules are regarding blind trusts, so I can’t tell you whether “your trust” will work in Tennessee. Some states absolutely require the “real winner(s)” to be identified on the public record as a condition to claiming their prize (hopefully, Tennessee is not one of those states)–in those states, a “blind trust” claim is not allowed.
Assuming that Tennessee permits such “confidential” or “blind trust” claims, the customary approach would be to establish two (2) trusts. The first such trust would be one along the lines you propose, with the grantor’s/winner’s name (e.g., your name) disclosed on the face of the trust agreement. However, when a lottery claim is made by a “blind trustee”, it is not unusual for the lottery commission involved to require the trustee/claimant (who is the “agent” for the “undisclosed/anonymous” actual winner) to provide a copy of the trust agreement “under which” the claim is being made.
Because I do not want the “real” winner’s name to show on the trust agreement presented to the lottery commission as documentation with the “blind trustee’s” claim, I add provisions to the first trust agreement that direct the “blind trustee” to establish a second trust for the sole purpose of pursuing and collecting the lottery prize anonymously. Thus, the second trust agreement identifies the “agent” (usually, the same trustee as under the “first trust”) as the “grantor” and “trustee”, stipulating that the grantor has established the trust for the specific purpose of claiming the prize on behalf of an undisclosed Beneficiary or Beneficiaries (who are identified in the “first trust” but not under the “second/blind trust”).
I hope this information is helpful to you, and I wish you the best of luck!
Kevin Robertson
This is not a Tennessee lottery or state rule. This is a rule for lottery states that allow you to redeemed your lottery ticket with a trust.
Gary Derryberry is a Vice President and Trust Officer of Heritage Trust Company from Oklahoma; he redeemed a lottery ticket with a trust.
November 13, 2015 – $202 million won by the Lucky Duck Passive Trust of Columbus, Ohio
March 24, 2015 – $58 million won by the Lucky 16 Trust of Manhattan, N.Y.
June 27, 2014 – $33 million won by the 6-27-14 Revocable Trust of Houston, Texas
October 1, 2013 – $189 million won by an anonymous “Lucky Family” in Anne Arundel County, Md.
July 16, 2013 – $20 million won by “The Lucky Ones” Partnership of Houston, Texas
Bruce — Interesting. Two of the trusts you mention were claimed in states that (according to their own publicity) guarantee the anonymity of winners who request it anyway (Ohio & Maryland). I suspect those trusts represent “lottery pools” hiding the identities of multiple winners, Otherwise, assuming Ohio’s and Maryland’s publicity is honest, it wouldn’t make any sense to go to the trouble of creating a trust – unless the winners were super paranoid (grin). But still, anonymity for trusts in the states of New York and Texas (and possibly Oklahoma) is interesting. It makes me wonder if the Villegas couple’s real mistake was hiring the “wrong lawyer” in Washington state (grin).
Judge rules Washington lottery winners can’t be anonymous
Published: October 3, 2008, 10:44 pm
The identity of a Yakima, Washington, couple who won a $6.6 million Lotto jackpot has been revealed after a judge ruled in favor of the state lottery that winners cannot claim jackpots anonymously.
This week, nearly 10 months after a temporary injunction that sealed the identity of Michele and Michael Villegas was supposed to be lifted, the names were released.
The amount that the couple won is thought to be a local record. But in many respects, their good fortune was eclipsed by the legal wrangling that accompanied their efforts to protect their privacy.
Lottery officials say that while many big winners want their names withheld, this was the first time anywhere in the state that someone successfully got even a temporary court order to that effect.
“It’s the first time anybody (with the Lottery) can remember something like this happening,” said Mary Tennyson, an assistant attorney general in Olympia who represented the state Lottery Commission in the case.
Compounding matters, the temporary order remained in effect for nine months despite a judge’s ruling almost from the outset that the names of lottery winners are subject to Washington’s public records law.
Meanwhile, the case was sealed. And because there was no standalone sealing order, the existence of the case remained a well-kept secret almost the entire time.
Heidi Bolong, the Villegases attorney, said the couple has several school-age children and that they wanted to protect their privacy primarily out of fear for the safety of their family.
They declined, through Bolong, their attorney, to be interviewed for this story.
“I don’t think they’ve changed their minds,” she said in an interview earlier this week.
The case began on Oct. 15, 2007, when someone in Yakima bought the winning ticket for the Pick 6 Lotto.
According to court records in the case, which was finally unsealed Tuesday, Bolong notified the Lottery in writing that her clients, whom she did not name, were going to claim the prize under the protection of a trust.
Bolong also requested, and received, an opportunity from the Lottery to seek a court order barring the release of her clients’ names.
She quickly filed for a temporary injunction, along with a request that the file be sealed and that a hearing be scheduled to make the injunction permanent.
Bolong later submitted clippings of news stories about kidnapping crimes in Yakima and a handful of attacks on lottery winners in other states as well as one in Canada.
Yakima County Court Commissioner Sid Ottem approved the injunction on Dec. 5, 2007. As part of the order, Ottem improperly sealed the case and set a hearing nine days out — to be conducted privately in a judge’s chambers.
Olympia attorney Greg Overstreet, an expert on media law and Washington’s public records law, said the way Ottem sealed the case violated court rules in multiple ways.
In Washington, judges are prohibited from sealing cases without first holding a hearing on the subject in open court. After that, a judge must issue written findings that justify a decision to seal all or parts of a case, and those findings, called a sealing order, cannot be sealed with the rest of the file.
“Each one of those three flaws are contained in the court rules,” said Overstreet. “I’m being polite.”
Ottem, a former law clerk to the late Judge Walter Stauffacher on the long-running Acquavella water rights case, left Yakima earlier this year after accepting a position with the federal Department of Interior in Albuquerque, N.M.
After learning of the injunction, Lottery officials objected that the names of Lotto winners have always been used for publicity purposes and that, lacking a specific exemption, Washington’s public records law presumes a record is public.
Tennyson, the assistant attorney general, argued that even though many lottery winners are initially nervous about their safety, “there is no record of any criminal activity have occurred, or injury to the winners, as a result of the publicity.”
The case was assigned to Superior Court Judge James Lust, who issued a ruling on Dec. 31 denying a permanent injunction.
In his ruling, Lust said that in order to prove a generalized “right to privacy” exemption, the Villegases had to show that disclosure would be highly offensive to a reasonable person and that disclosure is not of legitimate concern to the public.
Lust said that regardless of what a reasonable person might think about disclosure, names of lottery winners should be made public because “the monies that are collected and flow through the Lottery are (public).
“The court finds that this is the important factor,” he continued in his ruling, “and that the public has a right to know the true winners behind the screen” of trust accounts.
There was just one hitch, however.
Predicting that the Villegases might want to appeal, Lust allowed the temporary injunction to remain in effect for another 30 days.
But 30 days somehow stretched on for nine months. That’s because Bolong and Tennyson failed to draft and jointly file, as the judge requested, an order lifting the injunction.
In separate interviews earlier this week, the lawyers alternately blamed themselves and each other for not getting the paperwork signed.
“It just kind of slipped through the cracks,” Bolong said, adding, “I think I was more delinquent at the end but she was more delinquent at the beginning.”
Tennyson, who works in Olympia, said she repeatedly tried to contact Bolong and failed to get her attention until she requested a hearing in August before Lust.
“It was mostly my schedule is busy (and) she wouldn’t respond to my phone calls and e-mails,” she said.
As for the importance of the case, she said it was the first time she or anyone else with the Lottery could remember a court order blocking, even temporarily, release of a winner’s identity.
And although Lust’s ruling does not set a precedent per set outside of Yakima County, she suggested future winners and their legal counsel would be mindful that the matter had been argued before … in the Lottery’s favor.
Said Tennyson, “I would be happy to give them a copy of the decision.”
Tim — Based on your reply, I sent an email to the Wisconsin Lottery asking them if they’d release a “former” name to the public if a name change occurred before redemption. A rep named “Andrea” replied this morning that the “only” name they’d release to the public is the “legal” name of the claimant as shown on their driver license & Social Security card – two things I advise people (on my Lucky You site) to update prior to redemption. If you wish to verify this, contact Andrea at Wisconsin Lottery.
That is why I say, this method will guarantee your anonymity; Change your name and create a Revocable trust, with your new name as the trustee or your attorney as the trustee. The only name that will be given out, is the the name of the Revocable Trust. And if someone make an open record request, the only name they will receive is the trustee name(your new name) or the attorney name.
Bruce — I do like the way you think (grin). Anyway, I think my Lucky You site advice is solid as-is. I do urge all winners to consult with an attorney first before they win. Let’s hope they consult with the “right” attorney. I’d hate to have an attorney create a trust for me … only to retire and relocate to a luxury villa in the Swiss Alps while I’m waiting for his phone call (grin).
Like I said before, the best method is to change your name and create a Living Trust. If you create a Trust as you a Trustee and beneficiary, you can redeem the ticket without using an attorney and still keep your anonymity. All you have to do, is to open a new bank account with the Trust name. If you use an attorney, you can go and redeem the ticket with him as you being the trustee of the trust. The trustee of the the trust will inform the Lottery Commission on what banking account to transfer the money to. Besides if I use an attorney to redeem my ticket, I would use the largest Law Firm of my state.