The perils of giving out lottery tickets as gifts
With the holiday season around the corner, it’s time start shopping for all those gifts for friends and family. Ties and socks, toys and blocks, phones, computers, tools and locks, there is nothing that can’t be given as a gift. And a lot of people give lottery tickets as gifts, which kind of makes sense. After all, who wouldn’t love to win free money for the holiday season?
Could lottery ticket gifts be insulting?
But it might not be a good idea after all. Sometimes people react very differently to gifts than what we expect, and that can put quite the damper on an otherwise happy time. For instance, someone might see a gift of money as a statement of “I couldn’t be bothered looking for a gift for you (because I just don’t care, because I don’t know what you like, because I haven’t got the time to look, etc.)” The gift could be seen as an insult or blow-off, a present just to fulfill a seasonal obligation.
The gift of a lottery ticket could be seem as even more of an insult. With money, at least the recipient can buy something. But lottery tickets have no cash value. They can’t be traded in for money, or used towards the purchase of items. It is simply a piece of paper with the potential to win money. Of course if the ticket wins a big prize, then the person may feel that they received the perfect gift. If the ticket wins a small prize, then the person may feel ripped off on their gift. And if the ticket is a non-winner, then the person may feel like they never received a gift at all.
Who does the prize money belong to?
Now, what if the ticket wins the top award, the jackpot, the millions of dollars that will set the ticket gift recipient free for life? Well, that can create other issues. Once you tell the gifter that their gift won, they can do one of two things. Be extremely happy for you that their gift set you up for life, or be extremely jealous that you won on a ticket that they gave you as a gift, but should have kept for themselves. It should be their win. And now, they want it.
They might try to talk to you saying that since they gave you the ticket they should get half of the jackpot. If that doesn’t work they might contact the lottery commission and try to claim half with them, or actually get a lawyer and try to sue you. In any event, this will place the win on hold and the money won’t get released until the issue is resolved, which could take months or years.
However, the law is on your side here, as a gift is something that is given from one person to another without any expectation of compensation for receiving the gift. The gift is no longer the property of the gifter, and is solely the property of the person receiving the gift. The person giving the gift gives up all rights to that gift. So, if Aunt Melba gives you a lottery ticket for your birthday, that ticket belongs to you now and if it wins, Aunt Melba is “too bad, so sad.” Unless you tell Aunt Melba that you will share, she gets nothing.
So if you are going to give a lottery ticket as a gift, make sure you understand the following:
• You are giving the person a lottery ticket for a chance to win a prize regardless if it is the jackpot or a free ticket
• By giving the ticket you relinquish all ownership and responsibility for that ticket
• If the ticket wins you are not entitled to receive any portion of the prize as you are no longer the owner of the ticket
• Whatever prize is won is only claimable by the person you gifted the ticket to as long as they have signed it
Taking all this into consideration, make sure that if you are going to give someone a lottery ticket as a gift, you fully intend it to be an actual gift with no obligation to give you anything if the ticket wins. You are givng them the lottery ticket as a token of love or friendship that is not based on money. If they happen to win the jackpot be happy for them. And if they are a true family member or friend, they will thank you properly.
So if you intend to give someone a lottery ticket or ten, take into consideration how you think the person will react. If you have any doubts at all, it would be best to substitute cash for the ticket. They may still think you are “gift lazy,” but at least they buy their own lottery tickets