N.Y. Tax Law § 1613 — Certification of prize winners; payment of prizes

§ 1613. Certification of prize winners; payment of prizes. a. It shall\nbe the duty of the director to require that all prizes over five\nthousand dollars in any game be awarded to holders of winning tickets\nfor that game as provided in this section and section sixteen hundred\nfourteen of this article. Within one week after any drawing or selection\nof prize winning lottery tickets, the division shall deliver to the\ncomptroller a certified list of the tickets to which prizes are awarded\nand the amount of each such prize. Upon receipt of such certified list\nand voucher of the division, moneys sufficient for the payment of such\nprizes shall be paid to the division from the lottery prize account,\nupon audit and warrant of the comptroller. Moneys for the payment of\nlottery prizes shall be deposited by the director as provided in section\nsixteen hundred eleven of this article and the withdrawal of such moneys\nfor the payment of prize winners shall be subject to a check signed by\nthe director or such officers or employees of the division as the\ndirector may designate. The division shall each month provide the\ncomptroller with a record of all such withdrawals from the director's\naccounts. Payment of prizes shall be made by the division to holders of\nthe tickets to which prizes are awarded, except that payment of any\nprize drawn may be paid to the estate of a deceased prize winner, may be\npaid pursuant to a court order granted as a result of a proceeding as\nprovided in subdivision d of this section, and except that any person\npursuant to an appropriate judicial order may be paid the prize to which\nthe winner is entitled. The division shall be discharged of all further\nliability upon payment of a prize pursuant to this subdivision.\n b. If the person entitled to a prize on any winning ticket is under\nthe age of eighteen years, and such prize is less than five thousand\ndollars, the division may make payment by delivery to an adult member of\nthe minor's family or a guardian of the minor of a check or draft\npayable to the order of such minor. If the person entitled to a prize on\nany winning ticket is under the age of eighteen years and if such prize\nis five thousand dollars or more, the division may make payment to such\nminor by depositing the amount of the prize in any financial institution\nto the credit of an adult member of the minor's family or a guardian of\nthe minor as custodian for such minor. The person so named as custodian\nshall have the same duties and powers as a person designated as a\ncustodian in a manner prescribed by part six of article seven of the\nestates, powers and trusts law, and for purposes of this section the\nterms "adult", "member of a minor's family", and "guardian" and\n"financial institution" shall have the same meaning as in said part of\nsaid law. The division shall be discharged of all further liability upon\npayment of a prize to a minor pursuant to this subdivision.\n c. 1. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the director\nmay award and pay a "Lotto" prize to a claimant without a winning\nticket, if:\n (i) the claimant has filed a perfected claim therefor;\n (ii) the perfected claim is for a first prize in excess of five\nmillion dollars;\n (iii) at least one year has elapsed since the date of the drawing for\nwhich the prize is claimed;\n (iv) no other perfected claim has been filed therefor; and\n (v) the perfected claim has been authenticated by the division.\n 2. For purposes of this section, a "perfected claim" shall consist of\na written request that the prize be awarded and paid to the claimant,\naccompanied by:\n (i) a "Players Copy" of a claim validation report showing that the\noriginal winning lottery ticket was produced by the on-line lottery\ncomputer system at the same time and place as the validation of a\nprevious first-prize claim in the "Daily Numbers" game;\n (ii) "Lotto" play cards bearing the same number combinations as were\nplayed at such time and place immediately before or immediately\nfollowing the validation of such "Daily Numbers" first prize claim;\n (iii) a written statement from the licensed lottery sales agent\nstating that the agent believes the missing ticket was sold to the\nclaimant;\n (iv) a verified written statement explaining the circumstances under\nwhich the winning ticket was lost; and\n (v) a filing fee of one hundred dollars.\n 3. Within thirty days of the receipt of a perfected claim, the\ndivision shall attempt to authenticate it by comparing it to the records\nof the division, including electronic information provided by its\non-line service provider. A perfected claim may be deemed\n"authenticated" if:\n (i) the "Players Copy" and "Lotto" play cards included therewith\ncorrespond to the records of the division; and\n (ii) none of the information included in the perfected claim is\ncontradicted by the records of the division.\n 4. The director may promulgate rules and regulations to implement the\nprovisions of this subdivision.\n d. 1. The right of any person to receive payments under a prize that\nis paid in installments over time by the division may be voluntarily\nassigned, in whole or in part, if the assignment is made to a person or\nentity designated pursuant to an order of the supreme court of the\ncounty where the assigning prize winner resides or where the\nheadquarters of the division is located. A court may issue an order\napproving a voluntary assignment and directing the division to make\nprize payments in whole or in part to the designated assignee, if the\ncourt finds that all of the following conditions have been met:\n (i) The assignment is in writing, is executed by the assignor, and is,\nby its terms, subject to the laws of this state.\n (ii) The purchase price being paid for the payments being assigned\nrepresents a present value of the payments being assigned, discounted at\nan annual rate that does not exceed ten percentage points over the Wall\nStreet Journal prime rate published on the business day prior to the\ndate of execution of the contract.\n (iii) The contract of assignment expressly states that the assignor\nhas three business days after the contract was signed to cancel the\nassignment.\n (iv) The assignor provides a sworn affidavit attesting that he or she:\n (A) Is of sound mind, is in full command of his or her faculties, and\nis not acting under duress;\n (B) Has been advised regarding the assignment by his or her own\nindependent legal counsel, who is unrelated to and is not being\ncompensated by the assignee or any of the assignee's affiliates, and has\nreceived independent financial or tax advice concerning the effects of\nthe assignment from a lawyer or other professional who is unrelated to\nand is not being compensated by the assignee or any of the assignee's\naffiliates;\n (C) Understands that he or she will not receive the prize payments or\nportions thereof for the years assigned;\n (D) Understands and agrees that, with regard to the assigned payments,\nthe division and its officials and employees will have no further\nliability or responsibility to make the assigned payments to him or her;\n (E) Has been provided with a one-page written disclosure statement\nsetting forth, in bold type of not less than fourteen points, the\npayments being assigned, by amounts and payment dates; the purchase\nprice being paid; the rate of discount to present value, assuming daily\ncompounding and funding on the contract date; and the amount, if any, of\nany origination or closing fees that will be charged to him or her; and\n (F) Was advised in writing, at the time he or she signed the\nassignment contract, that he or she had the right to cancel the\ncontract, without any further obligation, within three business days\nfollowing the date on which the contract was signed.\n (v) Written notice of the proposed assignment and any court hearing\nconcerning the proposed assignment is provided to the division's counsel\nat least thirty days prior to any court hearing. The division is not\nrequired to appear in or be named as a party to any such action seeking\njudicial confirmation of an assignment under this subdivision, but may\nintervene as of right in any such proceeding.\n 2. A certified copy of a court order approving a voluntary assignment\nmust be provided to the division no later than thirty days before the\ndate on which the payment is to be made.\n 3. A court order obtained pursuant to this section, together with all\nsuch prior orders, shall not require the division to divide any single\nprize payment among more than three different persons. Nothing in this\nsection shall prohibit substituting assignees as long as there are no\nmore than three assignees at any one time for any one-prize payment.\n 4. If a husband and wife are co-owners of a prize, any assignment of\nthe prize must be made jointly.\n 5. A voluntary assignment may not include portions of payments that\nare subject to offset on account of a defaulted or delinquent child\nsupport obligation, non-wage garnishment, or criminal restitution\nobligation or on account of a debt owed to a state agency. Each court\norder issued under paragraph one of this subdivision shall provide that\nany delinquent child support or criminal restitution obligations of the\nassigning prize winner and any debts owed to a state agency by the\nassigning prize winner, as of the date of the court order, shall be set\noff by the division first against remaining payments or portions thereof\ndue the prize winner and then against payments due the assignee.\n 6. The division and its respective officials and employees shall be\ndischarged of all liability upon payment of an assigned prize under this\nsubdivision. The assignor and assignee shall hold harmless and indemnify\nthe division, the state of New York, and its employees and agents from\nall claims, actions, suits, complaints, and liabilities related to the\nassignment.\n 7. The division may establish a reasonable fee to defray any\nadministrative expenses associated with assignments made under this\nsubdivision, including the cost to the division of any processing fee\nthat may be imposed by a private annuity provider. The fee amount shall\nreflect the direct and indirect costs associated with processing\nassignments.\n 8. If at any time the Internal Revenue Service or a court of competent\njurisdiction issues a determination letter, revenue ruling, other public\nruling of the Internal Revenue Service, or published decision to the\ndivision or to any lottery prize winners declaring that the voluntary\nassignment of prizes will affect the federal income tax treatment of\nprize winners who do not assign their prizes, the division shall\nimmediately file a copy of that letter, ruling, or published decision\nwith the attorney general, the secretary of state, and the\nadministrative office of court administration. A court may not issue an\norder authorizing a voluntary assignment under this subdivision after\nthe date any such ruling, letter, or published decision is filed.\n 9. A contract of assignment in which the assignor is a lottery winner\nshall include a sworn affidavit from the assignee. The form of the\naffidavit shall include:\n (i) A summary of assignee contacts with the winner;\n (ii) A summary of any law suits, claims, and other legal actions from\nlottery winners regarding conduct of the assignee or its agents;\n (iii) A statement that the assignee is in good standing in its state\nof domicile and with any other licensing or regulatory agency as may be\nrequired in the conduct of its business;\n (iv) A brief business history of the assignee;\n (v) A statement describing the nature of the business of the assignee;\nand\n (vi) A statement of the assignee's privacy and non-harassment policies\nand express affirmation that the assignee has followed those policies in\nNew York.\n 10. The assignee shall notify the division of its business location\nand mailing address for payment purposes during the entire course of the\nassignment. The division shall be discharged of all further liability\nupon payment of a prize pursuant to this subdivision.\n