If you find a $1,000,000 winning lottery ticket someone threw away by mistake should you get to keep it?

Question

This is an actual pending lawsuit in my town. A guy didn't realize he had a million dollar winning scratch ticket and tossed in in the trash outside of the convenience store. A guy who goes through the trash for tickets found it. The guy that tossed it away filed a dispute of ownership with the lottery commission and now it is going to the courts. The guy who threw out the ticket had a heart attack and died and his family is pursuing to law suit for the million.

Thanks for your answers guys. The dude that found the ticket DID offer the guy/his estate a percent of the winnings and they said, no - we want it all.

Answer 1

Without a doubt, I think the person who found the ticket should get to keep the winnings.

It's not like he STOLE it from the person who purchased it. In fact, the person who purchased it, THREW IT AWAY! So, being that possession is nine-tenths of the law, I believe the person who had possession of the ticket (regardless of whether or not they actually purchased it) should get to keep the prize money.

I guess this is a real-life example of the addage: "One man's trash is another man's treasure."

Cheers.

Answer 2

I would rule with the guy who found it. How would anyone know who actually threw what ticket away anyway? What proof is there that it was his? I say finders keepers. If that guy has the idea to look through the trash in case someone throws away a ticket by mistake more power to him

Answer 3

If he still has the ripped up pieces of ticket, he should take them to the lottery office and see if they can verify the ticket. Hopefully they understand the value of free advertising that would come from all the local newspapers/TV channels covering the story of the guy that ripped up his lotto ticket but still got his money because the people at the lottery office were able to put it back together and verify the ticket. If he threw the pieces in the garbage, sorry but he's out of luck.

Answer 4

That's why you should sign your lottery ticket as soon as you get it.

I guess the lawyer's game now is to go after every lottery winner, and tie it up in the courts until the winner settles for a slice of the winnings.

Answer 5

Once you have intentionally thrown something into a public trash can you lose all reasonable expectation of keeping it.

Some guy found it, good for him. The guy who bought the ticket is dead at this point anyway.

I got to go with the finders keepers side on this one.

Answer 6

Yes I would , check your trash , if I knew who it was that made the mistake and they needed the cash .. I would hook um up

that's kind of like some guy that give their neighbor some crappy antique item and then gets pissed off and want money when he is laying in bed one night watching antique roadshow and finds out it was worth a 10 grand .. not right

Answer 7

If i found the winning lottery ticket that some one throw a way I'd keep it because It way there own dam felt

Answer 8

legally? i think the finder can keep it. i think the court will look at the intent of the person that owned it. he intended to throw it away, he no longer wanted it, he did not lose it. once he placed it in the garbage can to throw it away, it becomes the property of whoever finds it. or at least a good argument can be made for that point of view.

Answer 9

You throw something in a trash receptacle that is used by the public, it becomes public property/

Answer 10

HELL YEA.... it is not my fault that someone was dumb enough not to CHECK the scratch ticket. but since he knows that its worth a million dollars, he wants it... tooooo dam.n bad.... finders keepers, losers weepers... should be more observant next time...