Before You Claim

A California Lottery Winner’s Guide to Privacy, Planning and Protection

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law

Coming soon to Amazon

The first weeks after a big win are full of decisions that can’t be undone. This book is written for those weeks.

Before You Claim is a plain-English guide for a California winner of about $1 million and up, and for the family member they call first. It’s written by a California attorney whose practice emphasizes estate planning, trust administration and probate, and it follows the order the decisions come in: the night you check the numbers, the months before you turn in the ticket, and the first year after.

What’s inside

The first 72 hours. How to secure the ticket, who to tell, and why you have more time to claim than you think.
Privacy. California doesn’t allow anonymous claims or claims by a trust or LLC. A four-stage plan to make you hard to find, starting before your name is released.
Claiming. Where and how to claim, what happens with a lost or damaged ticket, office pools, and a winner who dies before claiming.
Cash or payments. A close look at the one choice you get 60 days to make, including the return the payments pay, before and after tax, worked from real jackpots.
Taxes. Why the 24% the Lottery withholds won’t cover the federal tax on a large prize, what you’ll owe in April, and how estimated payments work.
Your team. Why to hire an attorney first, then a CPA, then an advisor, how each one is paid, and how to check their licenses and records.
Estate planning for a new fortune. What changes when you cross the federal estate tax line, how to keep your estate out of probate, and how to plan for the estate tax on payments that haven’t arrived yet.
Family. Marriage and community property, gifts and loans to relatives, protecting a relative’s SSI or Medi-Cal, charitable giving, and helping your children without hurting them.
Living with it. What studies of winners found, where to find support, and what withdrawal-rate research says about how much you can spend each year.

Every dollar example is labeled as an illustration and shows its arithmetic. Every rule is tied to its source, from the Lottery’s own regulations to the Internal Revenue Code and the California codes. The back of the book has printable checklists, worksheets, a glossary and a page of this year’s tax and benefit figures.

This book is general information about California law. It isn’t legal, tax or investment advice, and it isn’t affiliated with or endorsed by the California Lottery.

Read the free guide first

More books: planning ahead

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