$1,34 billion Mega Millions jackpot remains unclaimed, report says

Winner of $1.34 billion Mega Millions ticket still hasn’t claimed prize a month later

It’s been reported that the Mega Millions jackpot winner, who was earlier estimated to receive a staggering $1,34 billion, has yet to claim the award.

The jackpot for this unclaimed reward is the second-largest in history, only trailing the $1,537 billion jackpot in South Carolina four years ago.

According to NBC News, Illinois Lottery director of communications Meghan Powers said that it is not unusual for there to be a gap between the jackpot announcement and the prize winner’s visit.

“For a prize of this magnitude, it is common for a winner to take slightly bit longer to assert the prize as they could wish to search skilled, authorized and monetary recommendation previous to claiming,” Power said.

The time frame for claiming prizes normally spans from 90 days to one year from the draw date, but according to the Mega Millions website, the rules for doing so and how long one has to do so differ by state.

People might never find out the identity of the potential billionaire since it is interesting to note that winners of prizes worth more than $250,000 have the option to remain unknown.

But even though the winner gets a year to collect their award, they only have 60 days from the draw date to select between a cash payment or an annuity.

There have been a few instances in the history of the Mega Million where jackpots went unclaimed. The first one occurred in December 2002, when a $68 million jackpot in New York also went unclaimed.

Four months later, in April 2003, a $46 million jackpot in Brooklyn, New York, remained unclaimed. Then, in August 2006, a $31 million jackpot in Queens, New York, went unclaimed.

The same thing happened in April 2003 for a $46 million jackpot in Brooklyn, and in August 2006 for a $31 million jackpot in Queens, New York.

If a jackpot reward is not claimed, each state that took part in the Mega Millions game receives a full refund of the funds it contributed.

In some cases, governments have used unclaimed lottery winnings for other purposes, such as subsidizing public schools, as is the case in Illinois, where roughly one-fourth of all lottery proceeds go toward those purposes.