lottery anonymity

[Wes Nathan]

What is the name of your state? Florida

 

[Wes Nathan]

Big lottery winners around the country are inundated by free loaders demanding the winner share the winnings. The harassment usually continues for months. This can include phone calls at all hours of the day and night, people knocking on your door, threats if you refuse to give them some of the winnings.
The media demands that the identity of the winners be made public. There are many laws that require this in many states.
My question is, are there legal ways to get around the requirement that winners names be made public?
I know of one technique given to me by an attorney: a double blind trust, where 2 trusts are created. The first one has the law firm (an attorney) turning in the winning ticket. He (they) then rolls the winnings to the second trust bank account, which is owned by the actual winners. The public and the media have no right to the names of the owners of the second trust, nor do they have a right to even know about the second trust.
Your opinions: can this work?

 

[FlyingRon]

From the FloridaLottery FAQ page:

No. Florida Lottery winners cannot remain anonymous. Florida law mandates that the Florida Lottery provide the winner's name, city of residence, game won, date won and amount won to any third party who requests the information; however Florida Lottery winners' home addresses and telephone numbers are confidential.

A trust is a possibility, but often it's not sufficient. Despite what some of the leach lawyers will tell you given a large enough jackpot and interest in the press to find out, the trust may not provide anonymity.

Note that if you're going to play the trust game, you better have an attorney on board at the outset. There was a pretty big case where a woman identified herself to the lottery people early on and then wasn't allowed to substitute the trust in the official documents.

 

[xylene]

Effective PR, a legal tem, and good security and better and less costly than attempting strict anonymity.

Anonymity can be breached and then you are at square one.

You'll need a legal team and security anyways. So basically it is better to work the media angle and control your image than to bury your head in the sand - which isn't anonymity anyways.

People will notice your lifestyle has changes. Even if it is just noticing your discretion. Lottery winners aren't secret agents.

 

[xylene]

You want to win the lottery and keep your smae job and same house?

Don't make no sense.