(NEXSTAR) — The Powerball jackpot is colossal, coming in at an estimated $1.8 billion after no ticket was able to match the numbers drawn Wednesday night.
At its current size, the jackpot ranks as the second-largest in U.S. history, and that includes the massive Mega Millions jackpots that have also been won in recent years. You wouldn’t be an instant billionaire, unfortunately, but you would be faced with some serious decisions.
Aside from selecting your preferred payout option (cash or 30 annuitized payments), experts recommend keeping the ticket in a secure place and signing it to confirm it was you who won. You’ll also want to build a team, comprised of a financial advisor, a tax advisor and a lawyer.
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They’ll all generally advise you to keep your victory a secret for as long as possible, as difficult as that may seem with such a large prize. Robert Pagliarini, author of “The Sudden Wealth Solution,” previously told Nexstar that it may be best for a jackpot winner to tell only one trusted family member about their victory at best. From there, he recommends staying out of the public eye whenever possible.
Unfortunately, in some states, your big secret may not remain that way for long, depending on disclosure laws.
In California, for example, disclosure laws require the winner’s full name to be released, as well as where they purchased their ticket. That’s why we knew relatively quickly who had won the world-record $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot hit by a ticket sold in California in 2022.
If you won the Powerball jackpot in Colorado, your first name and the first letter of your last name, as well as your hometown, would be listed on the state lottery’s website. Your name and hometown are made public if you win in New York, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wisconsin. In the latter, this information is available “to any organization or person requesting it.”
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If you won in New Mexico, you’d encounter a similar situation. According to the state lottery, local law requires that nearly all public records — including a lottery winner’s name, city of residence, and prize amount — are released when requested.
In Idaho, information like your name, the town in which you live, where you bought the ticket, and how much you won is “all a matter of public record,” the state’s lottery explains in its winner’s guide. The name, home state, and hometown of winners in Tennessee can be obtained with a records request. The Iowa Lottery says it is impossible for winners to remain anonymous when claiming prizes, while the Louisiana Lottery warns that, “depending upon the amount won and public or media interest in the win, winners may NOT be able to remain anonymous.”
In some states, it depends on how much money you win. Those who win $250,000 or more in Florida are temporarily exempt from public disclosure for 90 days after claiming their prize, according to the state’s lottery. If you win $100,000 or more in Arizona, your name is confidential for 90 days from the day you receive your funds. You can remain anonymous permanently, but your city and county will be released.
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In Minnesota, winners of more than $10,000 can opt to remain anonymous, but those winning $10,000 or less cannot. Winners of state-level games in Michigan who score more than $10,000 are granted anonymity. For multi-state games like Powerball, the state lottery defers to the game’s rules, which say winners can be named publicly.
In Illinois, winners of $250,000 or more can request to have their name and hometown kept confidential.
If you win more than $1 million in Virginia, you can claim the prize anonymously under a new law. The threshold is the same in Texas and West Virginia. In North Carolina, winners of more than $600 don’t retain their anonymity, according to Nexstar’s WAVY.
Having your name released is optional in Kentucky, a state lottery spokesperson told Nexstar’s WEHT.
Plenty of other states also allow winners some degree of anonymity:
- Delaware: Winners are allowed to remain anonymous, regardless of prize size.
- Kansas: Winners in Kansas can request to remain anonymous.
- Maryland: In most cases, winners can remain anonymous.
- Mississippi: The state lottery won’t identify a winner unless they have given written consent.
- Missouri: Your name is only released if you give the lottery written consent.
- Montana: Your name is not released, but where you live may be.
- New Jersey: Winners can choose to remain anonymous.
- North Dakota: Winners have the option to remain anonymous.
- South Carolina: A winner in South Carolina can remain anonymous, despite efforts to change that.
- Wyoming: Winners can remain anonymous or give permission to the state’s lottery to share some information.
Some lottery winners have opted to create a trust to claim their prize through. In most cases, the name of that trust is publicly available. If you’re lucky enough to win the Powerball jackpot, or any large lottery prize, it’s best to consult your team of experts or local lottery for additional guidance.
Powerball is played in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Drawings are held every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET, and your odds of landing the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.
