By the time Mr. Wilmot formally accepted the prize on behalf of the newly created L.L.C., the winner was able to enjoy the benefits of the prize without constant hassling from people who wanted money.
Instead, Mr. Wilmot, as the public face, absorbed all that on his client’s behalf.
“Every real estate broker is calling, every accounting firm is calling, all the tax folks, all the charities,” Mr. Wilmot said. The various pitches he received in the aftermath of the prize filled 22 boxes. Nine years later, he still receives requests for donations and other inquiries aimed at the winner.
In states where the winner’s name must eventually be made public in order to collect, building this protective barrier for business and charitable inquiries is doubly important; it can become overwhelming when winners handle it themselves, especially once people figure out their addresses.
Jason Kurland, a partner with the law firm Rivkin Radler who has represented numerous lottery winners, said that when they must appear publicly at a news conference, as some state lottery commissions insist, it is especially important to have already lined up good advisers and made major decisions.
That way, when the onslaught of solicitations begins, advisers are already in place to respond to them and the prize winner can maintain some measure of privacy.
Mr. Kurland also urges clients to leave on a vacation immediately after the news conference, in hopes that interest will have died down by the time they return (besides, he said, planning the vacation offers a pleasant diversion for the winners during the weeks of financial planning that precede it).
But getting the financial decision-making right is only a first step. The biggest challenge is in preventing the windfall from ruining relationships. Serious money can inflame any existing tension between family members, as winners must decide how much to share and with whom.
