Why Your First Call After Winning the Lottery Should Be to Hire a Good Lawyer
It sounds like a dream come true, but if you’re not careful, it can become a nightmare. If you win the lottery, or find yourself the recipient of any major financial windfall, you might think your biggest decision will be what you should buy first. But the truth is, you’ll need help to keep as much of that money as possible to spend down the road. And the first step to getting that help is hiring a lawyer who specializes in asset protection, trusts, and estate planning.
Lottery winners, in particular, can feel overwhelmed by the number of decisions they have to make, even before they claim a jackpot. To make things even more confusing, each state that participates in the lottery has its own procedures for claiming a prize and for minimizing tax liability. That’s why a lawyer’s help is essential to provide for the best outcome.
An experienced asset protection and trusts lawyer is part of the advisory team that lottery winners should put together to help them wade through the legalities of claiming a prize without making costly mistakes. A good lottery lawyer can protect jackpot winners, their families, and their hard-won cash now and for decades to come, even as it passes on to subsequent generations.
You don’t necessarily need a lawyer who brands themselves as a lottery lawyer, but you do want someone who has experience managing large windfalls. Good lawyers for lottery winners have experience with taxes, estate planning, setting up trusts, and protecting assets.
What Lottery Lawyers Do for Jackpot Winners
If you’ve just won a bundle of cash, you might be wary of hiring a lawyer right off the bat. However, including experienced attorneys like those at the Law Offices of Frye, Fortich & Garcia, P.L. pays off in the long run by ensuring that you are protected from costly mistakes. Here are some examples of what lottery lawyers do for jackpot winners:
- Protect your anonymity and privacy
- Put together a trustworthy advisory team
- Advise about payout options, including tax implications and long-term strategies
- Avoid common mistakes
- Quash frivolous lawsuits
When Should You Hire a Lottery Lawyer?
Winners spend a lot of time with their financial team, so it’s important to find someone you trust and feel comfortable with. And of course, the lawyer should be familiar with the unique problems lottery winners face.
If you win a large prize in a lottery, or find yourself the beneficiary of any sort of financial windfall, getting a good lawyer should be a priority. You’ll want to have representation before you tell anyone outside of your immediate circle of family and trusted friends that you’ve won, and certainly before you claim your priz
