PROPOSED RULES
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 99-10-051.
Title of Rule: WAC 315-34-057 and 315-06-120(12), Cash option--Sixty-day choice.
Purpose: To allow winners of annuity prizes to choose a cash option up to sixty days after validation of their claim (or up to sixty days after the drawing in which they won their prize), new WAC 315-34-057; amend WAC 315-06-120(12); and repeal WAC 315-34-055.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 67.70.040.
Statute Being Implemented: RCW 67.70.040.
Summary: See Purpose above.
Reasons Supporting Proposal: See Explanation of Rule below.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Mary Jane Ferguson, Rules Coordinator, Olympia, (360) 664-4833; Implementation and Enforcement: Merritt D. Long, Director, Olympia, (360) 664-4800.
Name of Proponent: Washington State Lottery Commission, governmental.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: The new rule and the amendment will permit winners of annuity prizes to choose a cash option up to sixty days after validation of their claim (or up to sixty days after the drawing in which they won their prize).
Proposal Changes the Following Existing Rules: The new rule and the amendment will permit winners of annuity prizes to choose a cash option up to sixty days after validation of their claim (or up to sixty days after the drawing in which they won their prize).
No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. The lottery has considered whether these rules are subject to the Regulatory Fairness Act, chapter 19.85 RCW, and has determined that they are not for the following reasons: (1) The rules have no economic impact on business' cost of equipment, supplies, labor or administrative costs. The rules are designed to establish rules and procedures for the playing of instant lottery games; and (2) the rules will have a negligible impact, if any, on business because they are interpretive. They have been promulgated for the purpose of stating policy, procedure and practice and do not include requirements for forms, fees, appearances or other actions by business.
RCW 34.05.328 does not apply to this rule adoption. Said section does not apply to these proposed rules because they are not proposed by one of the listed agencies. As the rules are merely interpretive, the lottery does not voluntarily apply this section.
Hearing Location: SeaTac Airport, on September 17, 1999, at 10:00 a.m.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Mary Jane Ferguson by September 15, 1999, (360) 664-4833.
Submit Written Comments to: Mary Jane Ferguson, Lottery, fax (360) 586-6586, by September 15, 1999.
Date of Intended Adoption: September 17, 1999.
June 18, 1999
Mary Jane Ferguson
Rules Coordinator
The following sets forth requirements for claims and payment of Lotto prizes:
(1) Claims for prize payment shall be made in accordance with WAC 315-30-030(6).
(2) Prize payments shall be made as follows:
(a) Cash option: After a player has claimed a jackpot prize or a share of a jackpot prize and after the claim has been validated (including a debt check pursuant to WAC 315.06.125), the player may elect to be paid a one-time single cash payment of fifty percent of his or her share of the announced jackpot, provided:
(i) the player must elect this cash option within sixty (60) days of the validation of his or her prize, by following the procedure required by the Lottery;
(ii) if the federal tax code is interpreted by federal authorities to require that this cash option be exercised within sixty (60) days of the drawing for the prize, then (i) above will not apply and instead, the player must elect this cash option within sixty (60) days of the date of the drawing for the prize.
(iii) the player's choice of payment method as designated by signing the appropriate Lottery form is final and may not be changed by the player at a later date. The only exception to this final choice may be a one time opportunity designated by the Lottery for winners to choose to cash out their prize annuities during some period from July 1, 1999 to December 31, 2000.
(b) Annuity: A player who chooses not to elect the cash option or who does not elect the cash option within the sixty day limit will be paid his or her prize in twenty-five annual installment payments.
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Reviser's note: The bracketed material preceding the section above was supplied by the code reviser's office.
Reviser's note: The typographical error in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appears in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.
[AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 97-20-052, filed 9/24/97)]WAC 315-06-120
Payment of prizes--General provisions.
(1) The director may designate claim centers for the filing of prize claims, and the location of such centers shall be publicized from time to time by the director.
(2) A claim shall be entered in the name of one claimant, which shall be either a natural person, association, corporation, general or limited partnership, club, trust, estate, society, company, joint stock company, receiver, trustee, or another acting in a fiduciary or representative capacity whether appointed by a court or otherwise. A claim which includes one or more tickets with an address label or stamp on the back of the ticket shall be deemed to have been entered in the name of one claimant; PROVIDED, That if the address label or stamp contains the name of more than one claimant, the prize payment will be made to the one who has signed the ticket and/or claim form or, if there is no signature or two signatures, to the first claimant listed on the address label or stamp. The claimant must submit his or her Social Security number (SSN) or the federal employer's identification number (FEIN) when claiming any prize exceeding six hundred dollars.
(3) A claim may be entered in the name of a claimant other than a natural person only if the claimant is a legal entity and possesses a federal employer's identification number (FEIN) as issued by the Internal Revenue Service, such number is shown on the claim form and the entity's terms comply with subsection (4) of this section. Groups, family units, organizations, clubs, or other organizations which are not a legal entity, or do not possess a federal employer's identification number, shall designate one natural person or one legal entity in whose name the claim is to be entered.
(4) The terms governing a claimant other than a natural person, i.e., articles of incorporation, trust terms, etc. shall be submitted to the director for approval. Terms not in compliance with lottery statutes or rules shall not be approved. Payment shall not be made to a claimant other than a natural person until the director has approved the terms.
All claimants other than natural persons shall have governing terms which:
(a) prohibit deletion, amendment, or addition of terms without the director's approval,
(b) state the names of all natural persons who have a direct or indirect right or interest in the claimant, each of their percentage interests and their social security numbers,
(c) acknowledge that the debt collection process mandated by RCW 67.70.255 and WAC 315-06-125 shall be applied to the natural persons who hold interests in the claimant through their social security numbers, and
(d) provide that in the event the claimant ceases to exist prior to the full payout of the prize, the lottery will not make further payment without court order.
(5) The lottery shall not make payment to a claimant other than a natural person unless the terms governing the claimant include those enumerated subsection (4) of this section.
(6) Unless otherwise provided in the rules for a specific type of game, a claimant shall sign the back of the ticket and/or complete and sign a claim form approved by the director. The claimant shall submit the claim form and/or claimant's ticket to the lottery in accordance with the director's instructions as stated in the players' manual and/or on the back of the ticket or submit a request for reconstruction of an alleged winning ticket and sufficient evidence to enable reconstruction and that the claimant had submitted a claim for the prize, if any, for that ticket. The claimant, by submitting the claim or request for reconstruction, agrees to the following provisions:
(a) The discharge of the state, its officials, officers, and employees of all further liability upon payment of the prize; and
(b) The authorization to use the claimant's name and, upon written permission, photograph for publicity purposes by the lottery.
(7) A prize must be claimed within the time limits prescribed by the director in the instructions for the conduct of a specific game, but in no case shall a prize be claimed later than one hundred eighty days after the official end of that instant game or the on-line game drawing for which that on-line ticket was purchased.
(8) The director may deny awarding a prize to a claimant if:
(a) The ticket was not legally issued initially;
(b) The ticket was stolen from the commission, director, its employees or retailers, or from a lottery retailer; or
(c) The ticket has been altered or forged, or has otherwise been mutilated such that the authenticity of the ticket cannot be reasonably assured by the director.
(9) No natural person or legal entity entitled to a prize may assign the right to payment, except under the following limited circumstances:
(a) That payment of a prize may be made to any court appointed legal representative, including, but not limited to, guardians, executors, administrators, receivers, or other court appointed assignees; and
(b) When payment of all or part of the remainder of an annuity and the right to receive future annual prize payments has been voluntarily assigned to another person, pursuant to an appropriate judicial order that meets the requirements of RCW 67.70.100(2).
(10) In the event that there is a dispute or it appears that a dispute may occur relative to any prize, the director may refrain from making payment of the prize pending a final determination by the director or by a court of competent jurisdiction relative to the same.
(11) A ticket that has been legally issued by a lottery retailer is a bearer instrument until signed. The person who signs the ticket or has possession of an unsigned ticket is considered the bearer of the ticket. Payment of any prize may be made to the bearer, and all liability of the state, its officials, officers, and employees and of the commission, director and employees of the commission terminates upon payment.
(12) All prizes shall be paid within a reasonable time after the claims are validated by the
director and a winner is determined. Provided, prizes paid for claims validated pursuant to WAC 315-10-070(2) shall not be paid prior to one hundred eighty-one days after the official end of that
instant game. The date of the first installment payment of each prize to be paid in installment
payments shall be the date the claim is validated. validated, or the date the winner makes a
choice of payment by annual payments or by single cash payment pursuant to WAC 315.34.057. Subsequent installment payments shall be made as follows:
(a) If the prize was awarded as the result of a drawing conducted by the lottery,
installment payments shall be made weekly, monthly, or annually from the date of the drawing in
accordance with the type of prize awarded, except that when a drawing occurs during the last
week of the calendar year and it is impossible to claim the prize in the calendar year of the
drawing solely due to weekend or extraordinary closure of the lottery's offices, installment
payments shall be made weekly, monthly, or annually, in accordance with the type of prize
awarded, from the date prize is claimed; awarded, or
(b) If the prize was awarded in a manner other than a drawing conducted by the lottery, installment payments shall be made weekly, monthly, or annually from the date the claim is validated in accordance with the type of prize awarded.
(13) The director may, at any time, delay any payment in order to review a change of circumstances relative to the prize awarded, the payee, the claim or any other matter that may have come to his or her attention. All delayed payments shall be brought up to date immediately upon the director's confirmation and continue to be paid on each originally scheduled payment date thereafter.
(14) If any prize is payable for the life of the winner, only a natural person may claim such a prize. Such "win for life" type prizes shall cease upon the death of the winner or the end of a guaranteed payment period (if any), whichever is later. Win for life prizes may be assigned; and the following conditions apply to such assignments:
(a) The original winner's actual life shall determine when prize payments cease; and
(b) The assignee shall be responsible for notifying the lottery of the original winner's death.
(15) The director's decisions and judgments in respect to the determination of a winning ticket or of any other dispute arising from the payment or awarding of prizes shall be final and binding upon all participants in the lottery.
(16) Each lottery retailer shall pay all prizes authorized to be paid by the lottery retailer by these rules during its normal business hours at the location designated on its license.
(17) In the event a dispute between the director and the claimant occurs as to whether the ticket is a winning ticket, and if the ticket prize is not paid, the director may, solely at his or her option, replace the disputed ticket with an unplayed ticket (or tickets of equivalent sales price from any game). This shall be the sole and exclusive remedy of the claimant.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 67.70.040. 97-20-052, § 315-06-120, filed 9/24/97, effective 10/25/97; 96-19-071, § 315-06-120, filed 9/17/96, effective 10/18/96; 96-15-124, § 315-06-120, filed 7/24/96, effective 8/24/96; 94-19-062, § 315-06-120, filed 9/20/94, effective 10/21/94; 93-04-004, § 315-06-120, filed 1/21/93, effective 2/21/93; 91-03-036, § 315-06-120, filed 1/9/91, effective 2/9/91; 89-12-042 (Order 116), § 315-06-120, filed 6/1/89; 87-17-012 (Order 103), § 315-06-120, filed 8/10/87; 87-01-057 (Order 96), § 315-06-120, filed 12/16/86; 86-01-060 (Order 83), § 315-06-120, filed 12/16/85; 85-16-031 (Order 77), § 315-06-120, filed 7/30/85; 84-19-045 (Order 64), § 315-06-120, filed 9/17/84; 84-09-008 (Order 54), § 315-06-120, filed 4/9/84; 84-01-002 (Order 41), § 315-06-120, filed 12/8/83. Statutory Authority: RCW 67.70.040 and 67.70.050. 83-05-029 (Order 14), § 315-06-120, filed 2/10/83.]
Reviser's note: The bracketed material preceding the section above was supplied by the code reviser's office.
Reviser's note: The typographical errors in the above section occurred in the copy filed by the agency and appear in the Register pursuant to the requirements of RCW 34.08.040.
Reviser's note: RCW 34.05.395 requires the use of underlining and deletion marks to indicate amendments to existing rules. The rule published above varies from its predecessor in certain respects not indicated by the use of these markings.