Lottery winner, 94, sues to get it all now

Louise Outing is 94 years old, and she knows it would be foolish to expect to live another 20. So the lottery winner wants all of her cash now, not in payments spread out over the next two decades.

''In March, I will be 95 years old. Do you realize that? Ninety-five in March," the Everett woman said in a telephone interview yesterday. ''Now, you know I'm not going to live 20 years."

Outing won the Sept. 4 Megabucks drawing, and she wants the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission to cut her a check immediately for the full $5.6 million, minus taxes. But the commission has so far rejected that request, saying Megabucks winners get 20-year annuities, not lump-sum payments.

Frustrated, Outing and her Boston attorney, James Dilday, yesterday asked Norfolk Superior Court Judge Barbara Dortch-Okara to step in. Dilday said state rules give the lottery's executive director, Joseph C. Sullivan, the freedom to choose between big cash now or a series of smaller checks. Dilday also said the state has paid $3.5 million to a bank for the 20-year annuity -- which they could and should have paid directly to Outing.

But Sullivan said he isn't sure Dilday's got it right about the rules or about lottery financing. ''We are just going to have to sit tight and see what the court rules," Sullivan said.

Sullivan said that historically, Megabucks winners get paid in installments over 20 years. ''She is guaranteed a 20-year annuity with a net payment of $198,639 to her and her beneficiaries, which in this case, if needed, would be the estate," he said. ''It really is a pleasant situation in terms of having a big winner, and we're pleased for Mrs. Outing. Our hope is that it remains a pleasant situation for her and her family."

Sullivan said that only the multistate Mega Millions game offers a lump-sum option.

Outing said she wants the money now so she can take care of her seven grandchildren, her nine great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren in the way she chooses. Outing, a retired waitress from Anthony's Pier 4, has outlived her husband and all six of her children.

''I would like the money so I can do what I want to do with it," said Outing, who said she wanted to make sure her relatives can afford a quality education. ''I think I'm entitled to it. I won. So I don't understand why they don't give it to me. They took my money, so they should give me what I got."

She also wants to visit Bermuda.

''I've got plenty to do with it," said Outing, who has already cashed one check and spent most of that fixing up the home where she has lived for the past 80 years.

Outing said if the judge rules against her, she will appeal, even though it could take years before a final decision is made by the courts.

''I know, but I'm going to try it anyway because I want to get the money I'm due," she said. ''It's mine, so why can't they give it to me? I think it's awful the way they are treating me, just awful."