Couple finds winning lottery ticket two weeks before expiry date

Harold and Tina Ehrenberg hit the jackpot — literally.

While tidying up their LA home this week Tina stumbled upon a few forgotten lottery tickets left on the nightstand in their bedroom — one of which just happened to be a winning ticket for the $1.8 million jackpot (AU $2.4 million).

But that’s not even the craziest part. It turns out the pair claimed the prize just in the nick of time.

Winnings for draw-style lottery games like that one must be claimed within 180 days of the drawing, according to Kimberly Chopin, director of communications for the Lousiana Lottery.

And the winning ticket belonged to a June 6, 2018, drawing but wasn’t claimed until Nov. 19 – meaning there was only a mere two weeks until the window would close and Harold and Tina would’ve lost their prize forever.

“I checked the numbers three times,” Tina told Yahoo Lifestyle US. Just to make sure it wasn’t just her imagination she then asked Harold to log onto the Louisiana Lottery’s website and check while she read aloud the numbers they’d picked — 03-07-30-31-35-38.

After realising they had a winning ticket it then dawned on the couple that they might have waited too long — and panic set in.

“It didn’t click until we were actually at the lottery office, filling out paperwork,” Tina said, describing the feeling as being in a daze. Then someone opened a door, flashed a big smile and said to the couple, ‘Come on back!’ — “and that’s when we realized we had a winning ticket!” Tina said.

Harold and Tina received $1,274,313 (AU$1,755,000) in a lump sum after tax, from a ticket they casually bought one summers day.

And they weren’t the only winner – the store also received a one-time selling bonus of $17,948.07 — which is one percent of the prize, according to Chopin.

The store won too: Its owner received a one-time selling bonus of $17,948.07 (AU $24719) — which is one percent of the prize, according to Kimberly.

Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle US Kimberly said the officials at the Lousiana Lottery “had been watching this one for a while since it was a big jackpot.”

She said that luckily, it’s not very often that a winner waits until the eleventh hour to come forward — and they shouldn’t.

Keep your tickets and check them after every drawing,” she urges, reminding players they might be entitled to smaller prizes too. She says the timing varies by state, but most lottery associations allow enough time to contact a CPA and understand tax implications before officially claiming a prize.

The Ehrenbergs don’t plan on spending their newfound bounty on any extravagances, though. In fact, they don’t plan on spending it at all, they told Yahoo Lifestyle.

“It’s already in our retirement account,” the couple confirmed.

Tina said that friends and family have been wishing them well and sending congratulations on the win, which comes just in time for holiday celebrations and it’s safe to say these two have a lot to be thankful for this year.

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