BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to assignment of rights of lottery winnings; and amending RCW 67.70.100.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 67.70.100 and 1996 c 228 s 2 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) In the case of a present value payment, the interest and discount rate used to arrive at the prize winner's present value payment amount has been disclosed, in writing, to the prize winner; and

(iv) 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~~)) declaring that the voluntary assignment of prizes will not affect the federal income tax treatment of prize winners who do not assign their prizes. If at any time the federal internal revenue service or a court of competent jurisdiction provides a ruling or issues a decision to any state lottery or state lottery prize winner declaring that the voluntary assignment of prizes will affect the federal income tax treatment of prize winners who do not assign their prizes, the director shall file with the secretary of state a copy of the ruling or decision and no further voluntary assignments shall be allowed after the date the ruling or decision is filed.

(6) The commission and the director shall be discharged of all further liability upon payment of a prize pursuant to this section.