States that allow anonymous lottery winners fall into two main groups: about nine states let you claim any prize without disclosing your name, and roughly eight more allow anonymity once the prize crosses a set dollar threshold. Everywhere else, the common workaround is claiming through a trust or LLC so the entity’s name goes on the public record instead of yours. What governs your options is the state where the ticket was bought, not where you live.
States That Allow Full Anonymity at Any Prize Amount
In these states, the lottery commission will not release your name regardless of the prize size, and you don’t need a trust or any special legal structure to qualify. As of 2026, that list is:
- Delaware
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- North Dakota
- South Carolina
- Wyoming
South Carolina’s protections have held up in court. The state lottery commission has defeated open-records requests seeking winner identities, including for the winner of a nearly $400 million Powerball jackpot in 2013, with a judge finding that release would be an unreasonable invasion of personal privacy.
States That Allow Anonymity Above a Dollar Threshold
In this second group, your name is public for smaller prizes but shielded once the prize reaches a set amount. The threshold varies a lot:
- Michigan and Minnesota: $10,000 or more. Michigan’s protection applies only to state games; Powerball and Mega Millions tickets bought in Michigan may still require disclosure under multi-state rules.
- Arizona and Maine: $100,000 or more.
- Georgia and Illinois: $250,000 or more.
- Arkansas: $500,000 or more, with anonymity lasting three years from the claim date.
- Texas and Virginia: $1 million or more.
Arizona’s statute is a useful example of how these laws work in practice. Under Arizona Revised Statute 5-573(D), a winner of $100,000 or more may elect to keep their name permanently confidential, and even without that election the lottery holds the information confidential for 90 days from the date the prize is awarded.1Arizona Lottery. Frequently Asked Questions
Illinois adds a timing trap. If you win $250,000 or more, you have to request confidentiality on the Illinois Lottery Winner Claim Form at the time you claim. Miss that box and the option is gone.2Illinois Lottery. Claiming Game Prizes
Virginia’s threshold dropped sharply in 2025. The previous floor was $10 million. House Bill 1799, signed in March 2025 and effective July 1, 2025, lowered it to $1 million, so the Virginia Lottery now cannot disclose a winner’s identity at that level without written consent.3Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 58.1-4029 – Disclosure of Identity of Winners
Recent Changes You Should Verify Before Relying on Any List
Lottery privacy law is moving quickly, and older summaries go stale. In 2025 alone:
- Maine signed L.D. 404 in May 2025, protecting winners of $100,000 or more.
- New Hampshire’s House Bill 485, signed in August 2025, allows anonymity requests from winners who are domestic violence victims, who hold an active restraining order, or who obtain a court order showing good cause.
- Kentucky advanced a bill allowing one year of confidentiality for winners of over $1 million, with similar legislation moving in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
Check the current rules on your state lottery’s own website before you count on anything a list tells you.
What to Do If Your State Doesn’t Offer Anonymity
In states without a privacy statute, the standard workaround is to claim the prize through a legal entity so the entity’s name, rather than yours, satisfies the public-records requirement. The two common structures are blind trusts and limited liability companies.
Blind Trusts
A blind trust puts a third-party trustee in control of the winnings. You transfer the ticket to the trust before claiming, and the trustee files the claim and manages the funds. The lottery discloses the trust name and trustee; your name stays off the announcement. Trusts can be revocable or irrevocable, and a well-drafted one doubles as an estate-planning vehicle for inheritance, charitable giving, and investment management. The trade-off is cost and timing: documents must be in place before you sign the ticket or submit the claim, and you need an attorney familiar with both trust law and lottery claims.
LLCs
Forming an LLC accomplishes the same shielding by a different route. You create the company, the LLC claims the prize, and the winnings flow into the business. State LLC filing fees run roughly $35 to $500, with a typical fee around $130. Attorney fees for setting up either a trust or an LLC specifically for a lottery claim generally fall between $1,000 and $10,000, with more comprehensive planning costing more.
States Reported to Accept Entity Claims
Not every lottery commission will accept a claim from a trust or LLC. States reported to allow it include Connecticut, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Washington. Rules and acceptance vary, and some commissions have pushed back on entity claims. Call the commission in the state where the ticket was bought before you form anything, and confirm they will accept the specific entity type you’re planning.
How to Claim Without Putting Your Name on Public Record
The sequence matters, especially with the ticket itself.
Start with the signature. If you’re claiming in your own name under a state anonymity law, sign the back of the ticket right away. If you plan to claim through a trust or LLC, do not sign in your personal name. Sign in the entity’s name, for example “The Smith Family Trust.” Once you’ve put your personal signature on the ticket, transferring it to an entity becomes much harder, and this single mistake can permanently close off the trust or LLC option.4Arizona Lottery. Arizona Lottery Winner Brochure
Then gather documents: the signed ticket, a valid government photo ID for whoever will physically present the claim, and, for an entity claim, the formation documents proving the trust or LLC exists and has authority to collect.4Arizona Lottery. Arizona Lottery Winner Brochure
Submit at the lottery commission’s headquarters. Most states require in-person claims for large prizes. In states with an election system like Illinois, mark the confidentiality request on the claim form at this stage, not later.
Mind the claim deadline. Every state imposes one, and an unclaimed prize is forfeited. Deadlines run from 90 days to a year depending on the state and game type, and the clock starts at the drawing or game closure, not when you decide to come forward. If you’re forming a trust or LLC, you have to fit the attorney work, formation, and documentation inside that window. Call the commission early to confirm exactly how long you have.
What Anonymity Does Not Cover
Privacy laws shield your name from the public and the press. They do not hide you from the lottery commission, the IRS, or law enforcement, and a court order can compel disclosure in proceedings such as divorce, bankruptcy, or fraud investigations.
Taxes still apply in full. Lottery winnings are taxable income whether you claim in your own name, through a trust, or through an LLC. Federal withholding kicks in automatically on prizes over $5,000, and claiming through an entity changes who receives the check but not who owes the tax. When a trust claims for multiple people, IRS Form 5754 identifies each individual winner and their share so the commission can issue separate W-2G forms.5Internal Revenue Service. Form 5754 – Statement by Person(s) Receiving Gambling Winnings
Open-records requests from the public or media are the most common test of anonymity in practice, and lottery commissions in states with privacy statutes have generally succeeded in blocking them. Michigan’s attorney general has formally concluded that winner information qualifies for the privacy exemption under that state’s Freedom of Information Act, finding that disclosure has the potential to endanger individuals.6State of Michigan Attorney General. Freedom of Information Act Handbook
The harder problem is the people around you. The legal structure keeps your name out of press releases and public databases, but it cannot stop friends, family, coworkers, or the retailer who sold you the ticket from talking. Winners who stay private long-term are usually the ones who told almost no one before claiming and made no sudden, visible changes afterward.