Is there a way to challenge someone's lottery win
You give your friend a lottery ticket for their birthday and they win millions of dollars. Are you entitled to half of the jackpot? You always go in on the lottery at work and one week you say you don’t have any money and will pay for this week’s lottery next week. Your group wins the jackpot on this week’s ticket and refuses to include you in the win as hadn’t have paid for this week? Are you able to sue them to collect your share of the jackpot?
The Challenges of Challenges
Challenging a lottery win can be tricky and subject to various laws in each gaming jurisdiction, so it is important to think about how someone may challenge your lottery win or how you could do the same to another person or group if you think you are entitled to a portion of the prize.
In many countries, when you give someone a gift, it is deemed to be a gesture by you to the other person with no expectation of anything in return. Once a gift is given it is deemed the property of the giftee. So if you give your niece a teddy bear for her birthday, you are giving up possession of that toy and transferring it over to your niece where you no longer have any claim to it. The same can be seen when giving a lottery ticket or scratch ticket to someone.
Once you gift the ticket, it is no longer your property and now belongs to the person you are giving it to. Anything that they win is theirs to keep and you have no legal right to any of the prize money. The act of giving the ticket as a gift constitutes accepted transfer of possession.
When you are in a weekly group lottery such as one at work, it is assumed, unless there is a written “playbook” that specifically outlines when a member is accepted as paying their portion and eligible for a share of the win, the general consensus is if you don’t pay, you haven’t played, and you therefore have no claim to any prize.
Of course, challenging a lottery win could be very different from country to country, but the majority of cases in which a person has challenged another person’s lottery win have resulted in the challenger losing in court. And it really comes down to the fact that the person who signed the ticket is the person who gets the money. Not only does this prolong the payment of the prize but it cost a lot to go to court and therefore eat into any prize money that may be left after paying court and legal fees.
So if you are giving a lottery ticket to someone as a birthday or Christmas gift, you release any claim to any prize that person may win. If you play in a group, it comes down to the fact that unless you are verified as paying your portion into the pool for that draw, you have no claim to any win. If you are going in on a ticket with a friend or relative, make sure there is a written agreement stating that each person will get their equal share of any winnings.
If you are not buying a lottery ticket for yourself, make sure to understand the rights in your country as to what happens when you challenge a win, or even if you can. It’s not an easy thing to do and could cost you more than the prize is worth.