UPDATE: $15 million winning Florida Lotto ticket expires tonight

Oct 19, 2015, 11:05 am (26 comments)

Florida Lottery

By Todd Northrop

For one person who bought a winning Florida Lotto ticket in April, there are just hours to go before that piece of paper becomes worthless.

The current value of that lottery ticket?  $15 million.  As of late Friday it was still unclaimed, and if the ticket-holder does not turn in the winning ticket by midnight tonight, their dreams will just be dreams.

The ticket was purchased April 22 at The Beer and Liquor Store on Morrison Avenue, just east of Military Trail in western Lake Worth.

The winning ticket numbers — 11-13-14-21-35-43 — expire tonight at midnight. 

If you think you may have purchased a Florida Lotto in April, check your closets, your pockets, under your bed, your wallets, your purses, your bibles — any place you might have stashed a lottery ticket.

Time is quickly running out, and $15 million is on the line.

Update Oct. 20, 9:19 am: Unfortunately the winner did not step forward last night, so the $15 million jackpot is now expired.

So what happens to the unclaimed $15 million?

Florida law requires that 80 percent of unclaimed prize funds from expired tickets be transferred directly to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. The remaining 20 percent is returned to the prize pool from which future prizes are awarded or used for special prize promotions.

So at least players will be able to get some of that cash back in the way of prizes.

News story photo(Click to display full-size in gallery)

Lottery Post Staff

Comments

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

dear lord, please oh please let it expire !!

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Its an amazing but true fact that some people are sitting on a lottery fortune without even realising it. Millions of Dollars of lottery money are left unclaimed each year before the claim date runs out. Once the claim date expires this money cannot be claimed and the lottery winner will become a lottery loser.

hearsetrax's avatarhearsetrax

Quote: Originally posted by Raven62 on Oct 19, 2015

Its an amazing but true fact that some people are sitting on a lottery fortune without even realising it. Millions of Dollars of lottery money are left unclaimed each year before the claim date runs out. Once the claim date expires this money cannot be claimed and the lottery winner will become a lottery loser.

sad and true ... but thats what happens when ya let tourists play jejeje

Todd's avatarTodd

Quote: Originally posted by Raven62 on Oct 19, 2015

Its an amazing but true fact that some people are sitting on a lottery fortune without even realising it. Millions of Dollars of lottery money are left unclaimed each year before the claim date runs out. Once the claim date expires this money cannot be claimed and the lottery winner will become a lottery loser.

Are you British?  ("Realising")

Or is this text copied from a British news article?


Edit:  Found it - I guess you copy and pasted the content from a British website called "Unclaimed Finances".  You did change "pounds" to "Dollars" however.  Strange!

Bleudog101

Quote: Originally posted by hearsetrax on Oct 19, 2015

sad and true ... but thats what happens when ya let tourists play jejeje

I too was thinking it was a tourist, tossed the ticket in the luggage or what have you and forgot all about it.

Gleno's avatarGleno

May have been a Military member who was shipped out overseas and lost the ticket.

See your story mentions the road, Military Trail.

Always a sad story when these winning tickets get lost,misplaced, or thrown away in error.

Thinking of...

music*'s avatarmusic*

Confused Five Million,$5,000,000.00 or a little bit more after taxes. Still a life changing amount of cash.

 What are the odds of the winner claiming before midnight. Cinderella's bewitching time.No Pity!

myturn's avatarmyturn

This is why I favor a player's card system. More state lotteries should offer the option. The other option is a subscription, if you win a large prize the lottery will contact you, small prizes are credited to your subscription account.

Both offer protection against loss or theft of your ticket.

myturn's avatarmyturn

Quote: Originally posted by Raven62 on Oct 19, 2015

Its an amazing but true fact that some people are sitting on a lottery fortune without even realising it. Millions of Dollars of lottery money are left unclaimed each year before the claim date runs out. Once the claim date expires this money cannot be claimed and the lottery winner will become a lottery loser.

While, it is a pity that some loose on the chance of long-term financial security because they loose or fail to check their tickets.

But every cloud has a silver lining, society benefits from the revenue which is unclaimed.

The reason for state lotteries is to raise revenue, which includes unclaimed prizes.

myturn's avatarmyturn

One thing I like about UK Treasury Premium Bonds, which the US Treasury should copy, is there is no expiry date. There are around £44million of unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes waiting for their unwitting owners to claim them.

 

If you think you may have missed the boat by leaving a prize unclaimed for too long, there is good news. There is no time limit for claiming these forgotten prizes.

 

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) said the most common reason for winners failing to claim prizes was forgetting to pass on their new address when they move home. More than a third of people who have lost touch with their savings have moved and failed to tell all their financial providers their new address, according to a survey for NS&I. Half of the people questioned said they found it difficult to remember all of the accounts they had opened over the years.

Raven62's avatarRaven62

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Oct 19, 2015

Are you British?  ("Realising")

Or is this text copied from a British news article?


Edit:  Found it - I guess you copy and pasted the content from a British website called "Unclaimed Finances".  You did change "pounds" to "Dollars" however.  Strange!

Realize is one of the many commonly misspelled words...

noise-gate

These kinds of stories can be heart- breaking, but they don't have to be. Now IF the holder just happens to be a member of LP/ visitor & he/ she reads this piece- hopefully the brain can reset to lead them to their hideout and retrieve that ticket in time.Having their Rip Vanwinkle moment interrupted would be well worth it....don't you think?

Here's to hoping! 

myturn's avatarmyturn

The British National Lottery has some £300m worth of prizes that have gone unclaimed. Prizes need to be claimed within 180 days of the draw date, after which time the money goes to Good Causes.

Prizes up to £50,000 can be claimed by post. Any amount above £50,000 must be claimed in person from a National Lottery Regional Centre and will be paid by cheque. You will be required to complete a prize claim form and provide proof of your identity.

myturn's avatarmyturn

Quote: Originally posted by Todd on Oct 19, 2015

Are you British?  ("Realising")

Or is this text copied from a British news article?


Edit:  Found it - I guess you copy and pasted the content from a British website called "Unclaimed Finances".  You did change "pounds" to "Dollars" however.  Strange!

Which came first, British English or America English?

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