N.Y. Tax Law § 1614: Unclaimed and abandoned prize money

§ 1614. Unclaimed and abandoned prize money. a. No prize claim shall

be valid if submitted to the commission following the expiration of a

one-year time period from the date of the drawing or from the close of

the game in which a prize was won, and the person otherwise entitled to

such prize shall forfeit any claim or entitlement to such prize moneys.

Unclaimed prize money, plus interest earned thereon, shall be retained

in the lottery prize account to be used for payment of special lotto or

supplemental lotto prizes offered pursuant to the plan or plans

specified in this article, or for promotional purposes to supplement

other games on an occasional basis not to exceed sixteen weeks within

any twelve month period pursuant to the plan or plans specified in this

article.

Furthermore, the commission shall not use funds from such lottery

prize account for such payments, as provided herein, in excess of sixty

million dollars in any fiscal year. All unclaimed prize money in excess

of the sixty million dollars spending limitation shall, at the end of

the fiscal year, be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the

state lottery fund created by section ninety-two-c of the state finance

law.

In the event that the director proposes to change any plan for the use

of unclaimed prize funds or in the event the director intends to use

funds in a game other than the game from which such unclaimed prize

funds were derived, the director of the budget, the chairperson of the

senate finance committee, and the chairperson of the assembly ways and

means committee shall be notified in writing separately detailing the

proposed changes to any plan prior to the implementation of the changes.

b. The division may determine that a prize has been abandoned whenever

more than eighteen months have elapsed since a prize payment check was

mailed to the last known address of the claimant and either such check

has been returned undelivered by the United States postal service and

the claimant cannot be located or such check has not been returned

undelivered and has not been presented for payment. Any prize so

determined to have been abandoned shall be paid to the state comptroller

pursuant to section thirteen hundred fifteen of the abandoned property

law.