According to the Maryland Lottery, the Mega Millions jackpot was last hit in September, for $810 million, on a ticket sold in Texas. CNBC reported there are eight states that don’t tax lottery winnings: California, Florida, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

There’s a laundry list of horror stories about big lottery winners whose golden tickets led to strained family relationships, bankruptcy, prison or even murder.

If you stand to claim a Mega Millions jackpot, or any other lottery prize, one of the first things you should do is seek advice from financial experts

It’s been a busy month for lottery players. The Mega Millions jackpot now stands at a $1.22 billion ahead of a Dec. 27 drawing, after a Christmas Eve drawing failed to yield a winner. That makes it the largest such prize for either of the two big multistate lottery games — Mega Millions and Powerball — in the holiday-filled month of December,

Heavy swell hits the Golden State over the holidays; watch a video recap of the chaos. “Keith’s death would have been challenging enough on its own, but overnight I also became a single mother of three.