A New Jersey couple's spring cleaning turned into a windfall when they found a forgotten Mega Millions ticket worth $1 million.
The Mercer County couple, who wish to remain anonymous, purchased a few Mega Millions tickets from a Speedymart in West Trenton on New Year's Eve 2024, according to a story on the Mega Millions website. They set the tickets aside, forgetting them for over five months.
They stumbled on the long-forgotten tickets in May.
"I was in the house and I just opened the drawer and I saw the tickets," one of the players said.
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The couple returned to the store where the tickets were purchased to see whether they were winners.
"I scanned them. One said ‘not a winner,' and then another ‘not a winner,' and then I scanned a ticket that said ‘winner,'" the player said.
The couple plans to use the money to help their children, ensuring they can start their adult lives without debt.
While the odds of winning a $1 million Mega Millions prize are about 1 in 12.6 million, the couple's story illustrates the even lower odds of winning and then nearly losing that prize in a junk drawer.
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Winning lottery tickets often go uncashed. Victor Matheson, a professor and gambling expert at the College of the Holy Cross, told SSBCrack News that about 1%, or more than $1 billion in potential winnings, are never claimed.
While most unclaimed prizes are for smaller amounts, some jackpots have been significant. For example, a ticket sold at a Walmart in Huber Heights, Ohio, was worth $138 million but was never claimed.
Over the last 25 years, eight Powerball or Mega Millions jackpots, which represent 1.5% of all jackpots during that period, have gone unclaimed, representing a combined estimated worth of $646 million, according to SSBCrack News.
When a multistate lottery jackpot goes unclaimed, the money is returned to the participating states. Each state decides how to use the funds, often putting them back into the lottery's prize pool for future games or dedicating funds to state programs like public education, infrastructure or gambling addiction support centers.
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Winners typically have from 90 days to a year to claim a prize, depending on a state's rules. For large jackpots, winners should claim the ticket in person at the state lottery office and consult with an attorney and financial adviser.
Winners must choose between a lump-sum payment and annual annuity payments.
A lump sum provides the entire prize, minus taxes, at once. Annuity payments are made annually over 30 years. Each option has different tax and financial implications.
While most forgotten tickets are for small prizes, the New Jersey couple's story shows that life-changing money can slip through the cracks, and the biggest lottery challenge may not be winning but remembering to cash in your ticket.
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