Some good advice above.
While only a few states allow you to claim the prize anonymously, I think it is possible in others to set up a blind trust or even a trust within a trust tied anonymously to an LLC to protect one’s privacy and protect from bogus claims against you personally.
Tell no one that you’ve won - not your family members, your BFF’s, not your priest or pastor – no one!
While it may be tempting, do not immediately quit your job or make any obvious lifestyle changes.
Sign the back of the ticket and take pictures of both the front and back and a time stamp selfie of you holding the ticket front and back and perhaps with a copy of the newspaper from that day, secure and encrypt that image and then lock the physical ticket away in a secure place like a safe deposit box while plans are made for claiming the money.
As for a lawyer, a financial manager, and an accountant, etc., you don’t want to use the lawyer who handled your car accident claim or the local store front accountant who does your annual tax return or the financial manager who tries to sell you whole life insurance.
You will need to hire top-tier experts and well vetted, nationally known and reputable firms that deal with great wealth and complex estate and tax planning issues.
And I agree, they should be separate and not related to each other and also as you said, hire separate unrelated firm(s) to periodically audit them and review your investments and tax returns. Set up monthly or quarterly meetings with the entire team to review your financial situation, investments and tax status and report back to you. If you are not savvy yourself in these areas, take some classes so you can understand the terms and not just rely solely on what others are telling you.
Change your email, phone numbers, change your mailing address to a PO Box, and delete all social media accounts – in other words go dark. There are some security firms that can help scrub you from the internet in case your identity is eventually leaked.
Make a list of your wishes, your bucket lists, etc., the money you would like to gift to family members and friends, etc. and the charities you would like to support. But consider these carefully.
While you might think it great to gift large sums of money to friends or family, think smaller and things that may be more helpful to them but not damaging like giving them large lump sums of cash (there have been many horror stories about this) – things like directly paying off their mortgage or their CC debts, student loans, medical debts, setting up educational trust funds for your grand kids or nieces and nephews. But pay for these things directly and out of a trust and not by giving them the money directly.
And make it clear that you will not give them anything else, you will not go into business with them or fund their or anyone’s business ventures, you are not going to fund them to the point they don’t have to work anymore and let them know that your estate plan and will leaves them practically nothing when you die, that the bulk of your estate will go to charity.
Sure, you can be somewhat more generous with some Christmas and birthday gifts than perhaps you were able to do before, but hopefully nothing too extravagant and perhaps take some family and friends with you on some family vacations. You can share your good fortune without being extravagant or stupid about it – i.e. when your 16 year old nephew gets his driver's license, do not buy him a Ferrari. 😊
And speaking of charities, vet these carefully as well and make a plan with the help of your investment advisor and tax accountant to verify their legitimacy. Prioritize what sort of legitimate charitable organizations you would like to support, make a list and stick to it. Do not think that every sob story you come across in the news or on FB or even here on FR, is something you should send money to.
If I were to win the Mega Millions jackpot, I would want to have and enjoy my best life ever and enjoy the winnings as one should.
But understand that if you’ve always lived in a 2-bedroom apartment or a modest 3-bedroom track home, buying multiple 12+ bedroom mansions all over the world and sports cars you rarely even drive or yachts, jewelry, designer clothes, etc., will not necessarily make you happier.
I for one would buy a piece of land and work with an architect to build a nice but modest custom home, well-appointed with higher end fixtures and appliances, nice furniture, my dream kitchen, an outdoor grilling area, a pool, etc., but probably not more than 3-4 bedrooms. Oh, and a library room with wall-to-wall bookshelves full of great books with a comfy leather chair and fireplace. I might also buy a modest seaside condo somewhere warm to winter in but that’s about it.
I would like to travel and take some classes in areas I’m interested in – history, archaeology, learn some new languages.
I’m a bit of an Anglophile and prior to covid and losing my job, was planning a trip to the UK, to York as York has all the periods of history of the UK I’m most interested in - Iron Age, Roman, Viking, Medieval.
If I won, I’d most definitely take that trip and also tour of many of the other historical sites in England, Ireland, Scotland, all the great castles and Roman sites. I would also like to take a grand tour of Italy and France. If things were not so volatile and dangerous, I’d also want to tour Egypt and North Africa with a focus on Roman ruins.
I would also want to go to my father’s birthplace in Kristiansand Norway and also take my niece and nephew and their kids along if they wanted. I’d love to find the house where my father was born if it still exists and find any of his relatives.
While some might think that winning the Mega Millions puts them in the stratosphere of the uber wealthy, I’d have no interest in running with that crowd.
But sure, it would be nice to have a nice house, travel, fly first class, have a nice and a new car or two, but as far as charity, while funding charitable causes is great, not having to work anymore would free me up to do volunteer work which I think could be very rewarding.
Do NOT sign the ticket with your name if you want to remain anonymous.
The Lottery winnings are payable only to the signer.
If you create a Trust or corporation, you sign with the Trust or corporate name.
Washington state allows Trusts, but only partial anonymity.
If you create a Trust, Washington state waives your former obligation to participate in a public news conference and to release your name.
However, your name is entered into a publicly available state data base, so journalists or curious state residents can look that up any time they want to.
Unless you don't like him and want him to die soon.
For me, I know where I'd buy some land and build a nice, but not extravagant house that has some ability to exist at least partially off-grid. I'd spend a fair amount of time riding my motorcycle and exploring the country with a decent sized backpack strapped into the rear seat.
I'd probably give away most of my lego to neighborhood kids that I've known for years. I'd keep the minimum of doodads for the new house. One of the more extravagant things I'd actually buy would be a nice watch with a perpetual calendar. Otherwise, I haven't a lot of need for 'things' anymore.