Ohio Rev. Code § 3770.12 (2026)

A court of competent jurisdiction shall approve a transfer of a lottery prize award only in a final order that is based on express findings of the court. The court shall approve the transfer if each of the following conditions that applies is met and is included in the court's express findings:

(A) The transferee has provided to the prize winner a disclosure statement that complies with section 3770.11 of the Revised Code, and the prize winner has confirmed the prize winner's receipt of the disclosure statement, as evidenced by the prize winner's notarized signature on a copy of the disclosure statement.

(B) The prize winner has received independent professional advice regarding the legal, financial, and other implications of the transfer, as evidenced by a statement signed under penalty of perjury by the prize winner and the licensed professional adviser.

(C) The transferee has given written notice of the transferee's name, address, and taxpayer identification number to the state lottery commission and has filed a copy of that notice with the court in which the application for approval of the transfer was filed.

(D) The transferee is a trust, limited partnership, general partnership, corporation, professional association, limited liability company, or other entity that is qualified to do business in this state and meets the registration requirements for that type of entity under Title XVII of the Revised Code.

(E) The transfer complies with all applicable requirements of the Revised Code and does not contravene any applicable statute or court order.

(F) The transfer does not include or cover the amounts of the lottery prize award that are required to be withheld or deducted pursuant to section 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, 3123.06, 3770.071, or 3770.072 of the Revised Code.

(G) Any amounts described in division (F) of this section that are required to be withheld or deducted, as of the date of the court order, will be offset by the commission first against remaining payments due the prize winner and then against payments due the transferee.

(H) Except as provided in divisions (F) and (G) of this section, that the prize winner's interest in each and all of the future payments from a particular lottery prize award is to be paid to a single transferee.

If the court determines that all of the conditions in divisions (A) to (H) of this section that apply are met, the transfer of the lottery prize award shall be presumed to be fair and reasonable and in the best interests of the prize winner.