A woman who won last month’s New Hampshire Powerball $560-million jackpot is asking a judge to let her keep the cash but remain anonymous.
She say she made a huge mistake by signing the winning ticket without consulting a lawyer. This is an experience winners on EuroMillions may wish to learn from.
New Hampshire state law and the local lottery’s rules require a lottery winner’s name, town and the amount won to be available for public information in the interest of transparency. Therefore as things stand she can only claim the cash if she reveals her name.
She could have formed an anonymous trust in terms of the law but has already signed her name and altering it nullify the ticket.
Her lawyers have argued that her privacy interests outweigh the insignificant public interest in disclosing her name.
The winner has lodged her action in the Hillsborough Supreme Court in Nashua under the name Jane Doe.
In the court papers she describes herself as a life-time New Hampshire resident and “an engaged community member.”
She says she “wishes to continue this work and the freedom to walk into a grocery store or attend public events without being known or targeted as the winner of a half-billion dollars.”
The Executive Director of the New Hampshire Lottery, Charlie McIntrye, conceded in a statement that winning a Powerball Jackpot can be a life-changing experience but added: “While we respect this player’s desire to remain anonymous, state and lottery rules clearly dictate protocols.”
A local news site has speculated that the odds on the court ruling in “Jane Doe’s” favour are small.
