+154 @Adventurous-Depth984 You aren’t public until you claim it. I have a couple of moving boxes worth of stuff (backup drives, photo albums, couple little things from family). I’m going to shack up in some hotel where I can get some privacy, and I’d mail the keys and deed to my house to my bff. New me claims the winnings, everything goes into a trust, interest pays for a new mansion in the name of whatever the trust is called, and that’s that.

+75 @Letters_to_Dionysus delay claiming the ticket. fight the obligation to a press conference in court. not to get out of it entirely but to delay it even further until the public isn't paying much attention. wear a mask. see if you can hire a lawyer to claim it as a representative of you.

+46 @Orcus424 In Florida I have 90 days till they release the winner info. By that time I will have lawyers, accountant, and a fiduciary financial advisor. I will have left my place but stored everything in a storage facility. My goal would be trying to find a new city to live in but stay in Florida. I will eventually buy a place with an LLC. My goal is stealth wealth. I want to look upper middle class to enjoy what I want.

+34 @firephoenix0013 Delay as much as legally possible. Then appear at the conference as covered up as possible. Face mask, large nondescript sunglasses, hat or hoodie, and no clothes that I’d normally wear. Then, discreet security for myself and my home and possibly my parents for a short time until the initial excitement wears down.

+25 @throwawayfromPA1701 They come with me to my new home, wherever that might be. I'm really not that worried about the public. I don't live in a movie. I'm not hiring bodyguards. I'll likely move to a wealthy neighborhood and be right in plain sight. Most of the money goes into a trust.

+21 @Hungry-Number6183 What about changing your legal name and address beforehand and then get a makeup artist to change your facial features and hair for the press conference? At the presser, develop a drawl or vice versa. Answer as few questions as possible and skedaddle.

+14 @buzzdome You mean all the hand-me-down, second hand store, busted stuff I can't afford to replace or upgrade? My 20 year old car? My worn-out clothes I replace one piece at a time when it rips or falls apart? My apartment in a sub-par neighborhood, chosen because it was cheaper than where I wanted to live? I take my phone and some mementos like photos that are irreplaceable. I walk away and never look back at any of it. Where do I live? Anywhere. A good law firm can secure you a loan for any amount of money using the (verified) ticket as collateral. I chill on a beach in Hawaii while I get used to the new normal. I wait until the excitement dies down - like 6 or 8 months. I quietly and legally change my name to something common like John Smith, requesting that for "purposes" the public record is sealed or redacted for safety purposes. Again, a good lawyer can make that case to a judge. When I collect, I take the advice of the other commenter and show up to the press conference in a ski mask and glasses. I might even show up on a Chewbacca costume so Disney sues the lottery organization preventing them from using the photos for publicity.

+13 @themadprofessor1976 Nothing. I would fire the lawyers and get some that actually know the law. Any reasonably competent estate lawyer will look at that requirement and successfully bypass it with a single legal maneuver... forming a trust. Only the lottery claimant would be required to go public, so I have them form a trust with me as the beneficiary and have the trustee claim the winnings. A trust cannot legally release the name of the beneficiaries of the trust without the express permission of the beneficiaries. The trust is the winner of the lottery. It pays the taxes. It fills out all the paperwork. It will be "required" to do the press conference. They'll likely just send a junior associate on stage. Someone who has no knowledge of the trust details or beneficiaries. Problem solved.