Lotto winners of more than $103,000 in Massachusetts often want the jumbo check, but not the photo (yet the law requires it) — here’s how 1 attorney keeps their riches a secret

“When somebody calls me and says, ‘I won the lottery! What do I do?’ I’m, like, ‘Yes!’ This is my bread and butter,” she told WCVB Channel 5 Boston in a story published May 21. “It’s pretty funny.”

Logan has built a thriving business guiding lottery winners on how to best protect their prize money.

Her services extend beyond just picking up the prize, though. She also has some other helpful advice that every winner should heed.

Helping lottery winners to stay anonymous

Logan's services are necessary for her clients to keep their identities secret. The state lottery commission says prizes over $103,000 must be claimed from its headquarters in Dorchester. According to Channel 5, the process requires a lot of paperwork and taking a photo, which may be displayed on the Mass Lottery website.

Massachusetts is far from the only state that has rules about identifying winners. In fact, only a few states allow winners to remain anonymous, while the rest have various rules in place that require winners to disclose at least some of their personal details.

Logan helps clients get around these rules by forming a trust to claim their prize, protecting the winner's identity. This is permissible in some other states as well.

“The legal trustee — your lawyer — goes and collects the prize, and the underlying beneficiary remains anonymous,” Logan explained.

The trust can be named anything you want and it will be written on one of those big novelty checks she gets to hold — which, unfortunately, she says you don't actually get to keep.

“I don’t walk out with that humungous check," Logan said. “It’s actually just a regular-size check, regardless of the amount. And then I go straight to the bank.”