When you win the lottery in some countries you get the option to go public or stay anonymous.
But that doesn’t happen everywhere. In the USA for exampe, many States require you to attend a press release, which is why we’ve had recent proposals from a lawmaker in New Jersey for at least a year of anonymity for winners. It’s also why we’ve had Spiderman winning the lottery in China, as well as the Monkey King.
Big recent winners such as the Bayford’s who won an enormous £148 Million on EuroMillions have chosen to go public, despite having the opportunity to stay anonymous. A decision they may now be regretting with over 400 begging letters within a week.
In some areas it is possible to set-up a trust before making a claim with the lottery company, as just happened with this claim for $24 Million jackpot in Texas. All we know about this winner is that the trust is called ‘MDDSS Revocable Trust’ – the actual ticket holder did not have to identify themselves.
It’s certainly worth seriously considering anonymity if you hit the jackpot, and looking into claiming via a trust if this is allowed in your area.
Your Comments ↓
Has anyone collected winnings in Canada by using a trust?
What does “MDDSS” in MDDSS Revocable Trust stand for? Or is there no name for it yet.
Manfred Sternberg & Associates (a law firm based in Houston) appear to have handled the claim, with Manfred Sternberg named as trustee claiming the check. The MDDSS could partly stem from that but I don’t think so. It could be anything really – initials of the winners, their kids, dogs names or even just random letters :-). I don’t think we’ll ever know.