If someone wins a large amount of money in the lottery and then declares bankruptcy, can they still be sued for their winnings?
Jan Meriss Alfonso Assistant at Ascent Law LLC The short answer is yes. If someone wins the lottery, that person is still legally required to pay off their debts—even if they file for bankruptcy. After declaring bankruptcy, that person's lottery winnings may be seized by creditors if they refuse to pay them back. The caveat here is that the bankruptcy court would not allow lottery winnings to be seized unless the winner had won on a ticket bought before filing for bankruptcy. So, if a person wins $600,000 on a ticket bought after declaring bankruptcy, the creditor would have no legal right to the prize. The Potential of Filing for Bankruptcy It's also worth pointing out that while filing for bankruptcy could potentially free up assets which would otherwise go to creditors, it actually usually makes it harder to get credit again on one's own later. Since many creditors will check with the courts when deciding whether or not to give credit to a potential debtor, winning the l...