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SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5865
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AS AMENDED BY THE HOUSE
Passed Legislature - 1996 Regular Session
State of Washington 54th Legislature 1996
Regular Session
By
Read first time 01/31/96.
Assigning the rights of lottery
prize winners.
AN ACT Relating to the
assignment of rights of lottery prize winners; amending RCW 67.70.100; and
creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
"NEW SECTION.
Sec. 1. The Washington state
lottery act under chapter 7, Laws of 1982 2nd ex. sess., provides, among other
things, that the right of any person to a prize shall not be assignable, except
to the estate of a deceased prize winner, or to a person designated pursuant to
an appropriate judicial order. Current law and practices provide that those
who win lotto jackpots are paid in annual installments over a period of twenty
years. The legislature recognizes that some prize winners, particularly
elderly persons, those seeking to acquire a small business, and others with
unique needs, may not want to wait to be paid over the course of up to twenty
years. It is the intent of the legislature to provide a restrictive means to
accommodate those prize winners who wish to enjoy more of their winnings
currently, without impacting the current fiscal structure of the Washington
state lottery commission.
Sec. 2. RCW 67.70.100 and 1982
2nd ex.s. c 7 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Except under
subsection (2) of this section, no right of any person to a prize drawn is
assignable, except that payment of any prize drawn may be paid to the estate of
a deceased prize winner, and except that any person pursuant to an appropriate
judicial order may be paid the prize to which the winner is entitled.
(2)(a) The payment
of the remainder of an annuity may be assigned to another person, pursuant to a
voluntary assignment of the right to receive future annual prize payments, if
the assignment is made pursuant to an appropriate judicial order of the
Thurston county superior court or the superior court of the county in which the
prize winner resides, if the winner is a resident of Washington state. If the
prize winner is not a resident of Washington state, the winner must seek an
appropriate order from the Thurston county superior court.
(b) If there is a
voluntary assignment under (a) of this subsection, a copy of the petition for
an order under (a) of this subsection and all notices of any hearing in the
matter shall be served on the attorney general no later than ten days before
any hearing or entry of any order.
(c) The court
receiving the petition may issue an order approving the assignment and
directing the director to pay to the assignee the remainder of an annuity so
assigned upon finding that all of the following conditions have been met:
(i) The assignment
has been memorialized in writing and executed by the assignor and is subject to
Washington law;
(ii) The assignor
provides a sworn declaration to the court attesting to the facts that the
assignor has had the opportunity to be represented by independent legal counsel
in connection with the assignment, has received independent financial and tax
advice concerning the effects of the assignment, and is of sound mind and not
acting under duress, and the court makes findings determining so; and
(iii) The proposed
assignment does not and will not include or cover payments or portions of
payments subject to offsets pursuant to RCW 67.70.255 unless appropriate
provision is made in the order to satisfy the obligations giving rise to the
offset.
(d) The commission
may intervene as of right in any proceeding under this section but shall not be
deemed an indispensable or necessary party.
(3) The director
will not pay the assignee an amount in excess of the annual payment entitled to
the assignor.
(4) The commission
may adopt rules pertaining to the assignment of prizes under this section,
including recovery of actual costs incurred by the commission. The recovery of
actual costs shall be deducted from the initial annuity payment made to the assignee.
(5) No voluntary
assignment under this section is effective unless and until the national office
of the federal internal revenue service provides a ruling that declares that
the voluntary assignment of prizes will not affect the federal income tax
treatment of prize winners who do not assign their prizes.
(6) The
commission and the director shall be discharged of all further liability upon
payment of a prize pursuant to this section.
