What Happens To Unclaimed Lottery Money

By Author: Nicole Anderson
Total Articles: 82
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Unclaimed lottery money is a phenomenon which defies logic for most of the people. It's a fact that the volume of unclaimed lottery money has been increasing with each passing day. Hundreds of cases of unclaimed lottery jackpots have come to light, and the owners of these tickets have been unsuccessful in staking a claim to their funds because of the existing lottery laws.
Authorities realize the value of a practical legislation which is pro-consumer and which enables the owner of a jackpot to redeem their prize at any point of their life. New legislation has been enacted to enable the winners of lotteries stake a claim to their winnings. A majority of the states have enacted laws which assist the owners of unclaimed Lottery tickets in claiming their unclaimed lottery wins without any bureaucratic tape. This law will help the government to utilize the lottery funds for welfare purposes if there is no claim for a long time.
In the case of popular lottery games like Powerball, which are administered by a a centralized lottery commission, each state has established its ...
... own set of rules regarding lottery winnings, and the state authorities are also responsible for managing the unclaimed lottery money. When a lottery draw happens, the Powerball officials determine first if there was a winner, and then in what state the winning ticket was purchased. The winnings are then distributed to the state lottery commission, who is responsible for getting the cash to the winner.
Each state has its own unclaimed lottery laws regarding how long that money can sit before the winner forfeits their chance, and the time given to winners to claim their prize varies extremely widely. Much debate has been going on at all levels of government as to the most reasonable time frame before the lottery win can be branded as unclaimed. In some states, winners have only 90 days before their ticket is considered invalid, and in other states, winners can take up to a year to claim their cash. This extreme disparity between the state lottery guideline and claim period has given rise to the demands of a universal blanket law which will enable the winners of lotteries to stake a claim to the win for a reasonably long period of time irrespective of the state the lottery was purchased.

Many of the states have enacted new lottery laws in order to deal with the logistical and administrative burden of unclaimed lottery money. The state of Arkansas has seen a new Lottery legislation recently. Under the terms of this new Bill, unclaimed winnings will go to a fund which will then assist programs and projects aimed at helping the personal and social development of persons who are economically or socially disadvantaged. In addition, the funds generated from unclaimed lottery wins will also be utilized to support the education of citizens who are economically under-privileged and persons with a disability.

The Bill will see all winnings which are unclaimed by the winning party in a period of 12 months from the date they became claimable, paid into the Unclaimed Winnings Fund. Service providers, such as bookmakers and lottery operators, will be required to keep a register of unclaimed winnings.
Similarly, states like Connecticut, New York and New Jersey have taken steps to increase the claim period, and now the players can claim their lottery winnings for up to a year. Connecticut also allows people to file lost ticket claims and investigate whether the prized ticket might, for instance, have actually been eaten by a dog.