A woman in New Hampshire is fighting to remain anonymous when claiming her half-billion dollar Powerball prize. She signed the back of the lottery ticket before being told that in doing so, she forfeited her right to remain anonymous. She is now in courts to fight to keep her name private.
In the United States, there are only about 7 states that allow you to remain anonymous when claiming a lottery prize. A few other states, including New Hampshire, will allow you to claim the prize using a trust. This woman didn't seek counsel until after signing the ticket so she had no knowledge that she was forfeiting her right to claim in the name of her trust.
This is difficult. I can definitely understand why this woman wants to remain anonymous and also, why she signed her ticket. She probably signed to keep from someone else claiming the prize. In the states where you are not able to remain anonymous, your name and city are plastered all over the news. This causes people to come from everywhere asking to borrow money or asking you to invest in the next big thing. Attorneys and financial investors call and send mail to try and get you to hire them. Not too mention that it may be dangerous as there have been reports of people being robbed or worse after winning the lottery.
If this woman loses this lawsuit, her name and possibly her image, will be all over the media. It will not just be local, but nationwide as everyone has heard about the woman who is fighting to remain anonymous. If she loses that fight, news stations will be waiting to discover who this person is. I understand that some states say that the reason for releasing the name and city is to keep it honest, but I do think that if a person wants to remain anonymous, they should be able to. What do you think?