Newton Falls woman seeks OK to change 2003 lottery payout

Staff report

NEWTON FALLS

A Shanks Phalanx Road woman filed an application Thursday with Trumbull County Common Pleas Court asking for permission to transfer the remaining payments of a 2003 Ohio Lottery prize to a company that will pay her a lump-sum payout.

Marlene A. Currence won an Ohio Lottery prize of about $937,500 on Jan. 4, 2003, minus tax withholding, and took the option of having the lottery commission pay her $31,250 per year from 2003 through January of 2032, according to the filing.

The remaining amount she is due is about $625,000.

But Currence has entered into an agreement with Seneca One, LLC, of Bethesda, Md., to transfer her ownership of the prize money to Seneca One in exchange for a lump-sum payment of $250,146, according to the filing.

Though the total payouts add up to $625,000, the “discounted present value of the lottery-prize award payments” is $542,778, according to a disclosure statement written by Seneca One and included with the filing.

The filing says Currence has received independent professional advice regarding the transfer from a licensed professional adviser, Atty. Thomas Palmer of Newton Falls.

Judge W. Wyatt McKay will preside over a hearing on the matter at 9 a.m. June 14.

Court documents say the lottery assignment statute in Ohio requires that anyone wanting to transfer his or her lottery winnings to another person or entity must secure a judicial order.