Ottawa County Woman Wins $185,063 Club Keno The Jack Prize from the Michigan Lottery

• Michigan Lottery Club Keno Jack
• Michigan Lottery Club Form

Prizes up to $50,000 may be claimed at any Michigan Lottery regional office. Prizes greater than $50,000 must be claimed at Lottery headquarters in Lansing. All regional offices will accept claims between 7:45 a.m. Monday through Friday. To ensure a claim is filed with efficiency. STARTING A LOTTERY CLUB If two or more people want to fi le a joint claim for a lottery prize, they fi rst must establish a “lottery club”. To establish a “lottery club” it is recommended that each club create a set of by-laws and appoint a club representative. Added in 2003, Club Games consist of the Club Keno game and pull-tabs, available mostly in social settings, such as bars, restaurants, and bowling centers. For Club Keno players choose up to 10 numbers out of 80. With results displayed on television sets three and a half minutes apart, the Lottery draws 20 numbers.

Keeping a close eye on The Jack paid off for an Ottawa County woman, who won $185,063. “I was out to lunch and my husband, Darrell, noticed that The Jack was getting pretty high,” said Chris-Ann Martini. “We kept watching … Continue reading

For many, winning the lottery is a dream come true. Or is it?

Life-changing sums of money obviously change lives. But it doesn’t always change it for the better.

There are plenty of lottery horror stories out there. It goes something like this:

Couple wins millions. Couple buys houses and cars. Couple gets taken advantage of. Couple declares bankruptcy.

According to the National Endowment for Financial Education, about 70 percent of people who suddenly come into significant amounts of money will lose it within a few years.

Knowing this, it is entirely understandable that most big winners would prefer to remain anonymous. States, however, have an interest in making lottery winners public.

It helps prevent fraud, so they claim. There is another motivating factor to make a winner’s story public. Frankly, it is the kind of publicity that sells more tickets.

Today, seven states allow winners to remain anonymous:

• Delaware
• Kansas
• Maryland
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• South Carolina
• Texas

Some states actually have laws that prohibit winners from staying anonymous. And others allow winners to form a trust and claim the winnings through the trust.

Should you remain anonymous if you win the lottery?

Of course, this is a personal decision, but there are more pros to remaining anonymous than cons. Remaining anonymous allows the winner to:

• Process what the windfall means
• Find legal and tax help
• Plan appropriately
• Prevent being harassed
• Protect their family from becoming the target of scams

The con to remaining anonymous: missing out on 15 minutes of fame.

While the spotlight can be enticing, having your name associated with winning millions of dollars is something you’ll likely regret.

The legal case for remaining anonymous

On March 17, a single Powerball jackpot winning ticket was sold in Pennsylvania and is now worth $456.7 million. It was the eighth-largest jackpot in Powerball history.

The winner has yet to come forward and is probably very interested in the outcome of Jane Doe vs.The New Hampshire Lottery Commission.

The judgment came just a few days before the sale of the most recent winning lottery ticket. The judge in the case ruled that the $560 million Powerball jackpot winner from January’s drawing had a right to anonymity. The judge concluded Jane Doe’s right to privacyoutweighs the state’s interest in revealing her identity.

The case headed to court after the winner signed the lottery ticket. It was then that she realized doing so would forfeit her right to privacy. Lottery officials said altering the signature to allow a trust to claim the winnings would void the ticket.

The judgment in favor of Jane Doe has set the stage for more winners to challenge their right keep their name out of the media.

Michigan Lottery and the legislation to remain anonymous

In the 2015-2016 Michigan legislative session, Rep. Ray Franz, R-Onekama, introduced HB433, which would allow lottery winners of over $10,000 a choice to remain anonymous.

The bill passed the House by a large margin and moved to the Senate Regulatory Reform Committee, Chaired by Sen. Tory Rocca, R-Sterling Heights.

The legislation died when the session ended and was never made it into law. Rep.Franz didn’t return to reintroduce the bill due to term limits.

Currently, there is not any active legislation, and there might not be interest again until the Michigan Lottery produces another big winner.

Michigan Lottery Club Keno Jack

You won the Michigan Lottery, now what?

For prizes over $50,000, the Michigan Lottery requests making an appointment at one of their offices. You’ll need to bring with you:

• The original winning ticket
• Valid government-issued photo ID
• Social Security card
• Bank account information

You may want to consult a lawyer and a tax professional before you head out. Proper planning is the solution to avoid becoming one of the 70 percent listed above. There are various types of trusts and annual gift-giving plans to help protect you and your windfall.

The precedent that favors the right to personal privacy over the public’s right to know is something to discuss with a professional before you go public.

Michigan Lottery Club Form

In the end, the proper preparation may be the real winning ticket.