22 N.Y. coworkers' complicated journey to claim $1 million prize

Comment #28

Lucky4Life — Mon, 03 Feb 2014 17:23:29 GMT

They are handing me a million dollars

No, no they aren't. it's only 34,000 after taxes splitting it 22 ways. Do you know how mad I would be?? I guess I am shelfish but I could never, ever join a pool.

Comment #27

newyork455 — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 02:55:37 GMT

The ten member limit for private groups in ny make no sense, because you can have up to 25 group members if you join thier mail in or online subscription for mega and lotto..........

Comment #26

rdgrnr — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 01:54:54 GMT

I agree, GameGrl.

Uh, your open heart surgery was essentially successful, ma'am.

Oh, you didn't agree with that?

Well, obviously you're confused.

Hey look over there! A squirrel!

LOL...

If jellyman was a lawyer, he'd be known as a shyster.

Comment #25

lucky 4moola — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 00:27:10 GMT

CDanaT: Coincidentaly I just received today an answer from TX Lottery to my question, is it possible for us, Texans, to make suggestions designed to benefit the Texas Lottery? And their answer was: You can make general suggestions to our customer service email address: customer.service@lottery.state.tx.us

So, I guess, it's up to us to change the one-check policy ..

Comment #24

LottoGuyBC — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 13:56:57 GMT

that's why I prefer to play alone

Comment #23

One-Day — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:55:33 GMT

Re: name changing post, I wouldn't mind changing my name to claim the prize and avoid media and the crazies' attention. Don't know anything about that or how long it takes but I'd try to do it. I'll always be Johnny C. to me and my family and that's all that matters. And if I can recoup the name later on, the sweeter.

Edit: Most states require name changes be published on your city's newspaper. The weasel media know this of course. Scratch that.

Comment #22

KY Floyd — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:19:29 GMT

It doesn't matter who gets a check(s). All that matters is who gets taxable income. If you get a check for $1 million and disburse $50,000 each to 19 other winners your taxable income is only $50,000 and each of the other 19 also has $50,000 in taxable income.

Of course the withholdings are another good reason to have formed an LLC and spent a modest amount to do so. If one individual claims the prize and then disburses the money the withholdings will be credited to their tax obligation, and... [ More ]

Comment #21

KY Floyd — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:03:43 GMT

I used the word essentially because the taxes won't be exactly the same, but they will be very close. That should be clear from the remainder of my post, but I could explain it again if you found it too confusing.

Comment #20

kapla — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 12:30:15 GMT

I agree, spread the wealth. I also like the comment about if they had hit one more number the department would have been wiped out--- LOL

Comment #19

TheGameGrl — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 19:09:52 GMT

Love the operative word essentially . Ohh I so want you to do my taxes this year and essentially be off a few thousand, I'm sure my state and Federal will adore you for that :)

Since the topic is about the winners and tip claims, the only gain I gathered is to stay away from Pool lotteries. Win on your own, lose on your own, just do it on your own.

Comment #18

lucky6025 — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 19:06:10 GMT

Is it essentially the same 1 person the one getting the check pays 25% tax on the 1 million in TX no state tax, then he has to give the other 21 their share as a gift,in mass you are allowed to give family members up to 11,000. per year but giving to any others it gets taxed different depending on the amount and then those people have to claim it and pay taxes on that money. I believe that is the way it works any accountants out there might have a better understanding of this.So he paid the tax

Comment #17

KY Floyd — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 18:39:40 GMT

The taxes are essentially the same regardless of how many checks the lottery does or doesn't write, because they're paid by each individual based on their total taxable income.

The only difference would be based on how much is spent by the LLC on lawyers or accountants. That money will be a tax deductible expense for the LLC, but will result in taxable income for the lawyers and accountants, whose marginal tax rates may differ from the members of the LLC. That difference in marginal rates wil... [ More ]

Comment #16

helpmewin — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 17:57:08 GMT

Congratulations to all the winners

Comment #15

ShowMeTheMoney$ — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 17:51:05 GMT

Changing your name seems very extreme to me. I would only do that as a last resort. Maybe you should just get an unlisted phone number and move into a guard-gated community. That would probably get you some privacy and make winning the lottery more enjoyable.

Comment #14

CDanaT — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 17:21:30 GMT

OS, I might agree with you in most cases until I read this article from an Atty that made a claim for a couple who won $35 million on the MM back in May 2011. His firm is out of Ft.Worth

Fort Worth, TX (PRWEB) July 21, 2011 -- In May, the lives of two Texans were changed forever when they won the thirty-five million dollar jackpot in the Mega Millions lottery. Who are these lucky people? Well, unless you are part of their family or circle of closest friends, you are not likely to know. In... [ More ]

Comment #13

OldSchoolPa — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 17:12:14 GMT

I play alone. I think when I win, I will just go in the very next day so I can have that money hit my bank account in 2 weeks time. Then I would setup other accounts after that and transfer funds as need be. I don't care if people know my name since your name has to be disclosed even when claiming in trust or LLC in states that do not permit anonymous prize claim. If things get too unbearable, I would have more than enough money to change my name.

Comment #12

maringoman — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 17:03:53 GMT

I think this is great news that 22 co workers walk away with about $30,000 each.

Comment #11

CDanaT — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 16:56:58 GMT

In Texas, here's a direct quote from the website on making a claim, The Texas Lottery Commission will pay only one claimant per ticket. A claimant can be an individual, a trust, a partnership, a corporation, or any other legal entity.If you choose to claim the prize as a trust, partnership, or other legal entity, the legal documents that create the legal entity must be submitted for review to the Texas Lottery's Legal Services Division before claiming your prize. This is required to ensure the d... [ More ]

Comment #10

THRIFTY — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 16:44:23 GMT

I play solo. It only takes 1 lottery ticket to win.

Comment #9

lucky6025 — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 16:20:19 GMT

The reason for the States doing 10 or in my state Mass. 1 is both greed and lazy. the greed part is pay 1 check to group and he has to pay others so alot more in taxes for state ALOT MORE.The lazy is why do work when you don't have to...know any state worker that does anything extra to help regular people LOL there is an IRS form 5754 to which lottery winnings with groups is used,so its not like its something new or states have to do more than print more check the paper work is done for each per... [ More ]

Comment #8

CDanaT — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 16:11:04 GMT

Good article and information, smart group, sound advice....Looks like common sense/good judgment prevailed !

Congrats on their win.

Comment #7

mamamary517 — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 15:07:24 GMT

I didn't know about the 10 check limit in NY. I have a group of 12 and when one or two players leave the group I will not be replacing them. Instead of the Lucky 12 I am going to rename the group to be The Lucky 10

Comment #6

TNPATL — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 15:06:54 GMT

Well at least he was smart about it. Congrats to the winners.

Comment #5

dallascowboyfan — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 15:05:21 GMT

Congratulation to all the winners 10 check limit come on NY

Comment #4

RedStang — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:50:43 GMT

Good article. Agree the 10 check limit makes no sense.

Comment #3

rcbbuckeye — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:19:16 GMT

Texas will issue 1 check to one individual, or one group. So if my group ever wins we would have to create an LLC, or some type of partnership.

If we win millions...I'm ok with that.

Comment #2

Jon D — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 14:15:26 GMT

I don't understand this limitation of only issuing 10 checks, or some lotteries only 1 check. Here in CA, they will issue up to 100 checks for group claims.

Just think of all the hundreds of checks the lottery issues on a daily basis, many only 3 or 4 figures. So really, how much more trouble is it to issue 12 more checks of $30,081 to cover this group?

Just think of all the waste in the system by the group needing to spend thousands of dollars for administrative overhead to the lawyer and... [ More ]

Comment #1

mypiemaster — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 13:30:51 GMT

Real food for thought. Pool participants and players beware.

22 N.Y. coworkers' complicated journey to claim $1 million prize

Lottery Post — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 13:27:33 GMT

Claiming a big lottery prize is a little more complicated than you might expect, especially if you are splitting the jackpot with a large group.

Step One: Hire an attorney. That was the advice Ray Wills got last month after he learned that he and 21 other Syracuse city workers with whom he regularly plays the lottery had won $1 million in the Dec. 13 Mega Millions drawing.

Wills, an engineering technician who has worked for the city for 10 years, is the group's ringleader. Once he convince... [ More ]