Planning what to do when you win the lottery can save you from a lot of problems and headaches, not to mention the increase in the chances of giving your patrimony a proper destination. However, taking too long to claim the prize because you are taking your time to understand your new reality or planning your investments could be a problem if you let the lottery tickets expire.
Therefore, if lottery tickets do expire, how to make sure not to lose the correct timing? Knowledge is the key, and as long as you are aware of how much time you have left, there should be no risk of your tickets going to expire.
Quick Jump
When Can I Expect My Lottery Tickets to Expire?
Lottery tickets do not expire in hours or a few days. It is usually safe to consider that you have at least up to 90 days to plan if you have not already decided what to do if you win the lottery – there are exceptions. Some specific lotteries may give even years for you to claim the prizes, but that is not a rule.
While scratch cards can expire within 30 to 90 days, you can be more relaxed with lottery tickets. It is really easy to find that information on expiration on our worldwide lotteries page by accessing the country and game of your choice.
Expiration Time By Lottery Tickets
This table will let you know when your lottery tickets expire exactly from the drawing date. I included the most popular lotteries so that there is a good chance that you can simply refer to them rather than explore our website.
| Lottery | Expiration in |
|---|---|
| US Powerball | 3 – 12 Months |
| Mega Millions | 3 – 12 Months |
| Euromillions | 3 – 12 Months |
| Eurojackpot | 180 Days |
| SuperEnalotto | 90 Days |
| La Primitiva | 90 Days |
| Mega-Sena | 90 Days |
| Canada Lotto 6/49 | 12 Months |
| France Loto | 60 Days |
| Austrian Lotto | Six Years |
| Oz Lotto | 12 Months |
| Vikinglotto | 90 Days |
| Cash4Life | 3 – 12 Months |
| Lucky4Life | 3 – 12 Months |
| Lotto America | 3 – 12 Months |
In cases where there are variations, the different jurisdictions applying the games have varied rules for the claiming deadline. In the case of the United States, there are states with different expiration times for lottery tickets. As for Euromillions, the participating countries also vary in how long they allow winners to claim tickets.
How to Know If a Lottery Ticket Is Expired?
There is no indication on the ticket itself when it expires – that would be so easier, wouldn’t it? Instead, we can tell from the drawing date.
If you purchased a ticket for a Florida Lotto on October 21st and the drawing is on October 28th, ignore the first date. That second date that indicates when the drawing occurs is day “0” in the counting for the expiration.
Source: flalottery.com
In that specific example, since the Florida Lottery gives us 180 days to claim our prizes, the ticket would expire six months from that October 28th. If more than 180 days have passed, that ticket is definitely expired, and the prize has been directed to a fund.
What Happens If My Lottery Tickets Expire?
If the lottery ticket expires for not being claimed, it simply becomes statistics as another unclaimed lottery ticket. Even the best lottery lawyers cannot do miracles if you lose the deadline to claim your prize because every lottery office or organization in the world is pretty clear about the maximum time you can wait before the lottery tickets expire.
There is no good reason to delay claiming your prize except to establish a good plan on what to do with the money. Waiting too long can put you at risk of forgetting it. You should also consider how long you will have to wait to get your lottery money.
Do Online Lottery Tickets Expire?
When we play on online lottery sites, we acquire online lottery tickets instead of physical ones, but we are still playing real games. Even the exclusive ones created by the lottery site brands are based on real games and, as such, have a given expiration date.
Therefore, regardless of picking lottery agents or lottery betting sites to play with online tickets, know that they expire at some point. Fortunately, it is really difficult to forget about them because the websites let you know first thing after the drawing that you have won.
Also, in most cases, you do not even need to worry about claiming the prize, as it is simply added to your account – as a result, there is nothing to expire.
How to Prevent Lottery Tickets From Expiring?
The only thing that stops the clock from ticking when it comes to the expiration of a lottery ticket is claiming the prize. Therefore, you may wait a while before you claim, but the only way to stop the expiration of lottery tickets is to claim them.
Now, if you want to prevent yourself from losing the ticket and consequently having them expire for not claiming, it is ideal to have a safe and easy-to-remember spot to keep your tickets. More importantly, consider playing the lottery online on lottery agents or betting sites to reduce that risk.
