A. No right of any person to a prize drawn shall be assignable, except that: (i) payment of any prize drawn may be paid according to the terms of a deceased prize winner's beneficiary designation or similar form filed with the Department or to the estate of a deceased prize winner who has not completed such a form; (ii) the prize to which the winner is entitled may be paid to a person pursuant to an appropriate judicial order; and (iii) payment of any prize drawn may be paid in accordance with the provisions of § 58.1-4020.1. Payments made according to the terms of a deceased prize winner's beneficiary designation or similar form filed with the Department are effective by reason of the contract involved and this statute and are not to be considered as testamentary or subject to Chapter 4 (§ 64.2-400 et seq.) of Title 64.2. The Director shall be discharged of all liability upon payment of a prize pursuant to this section.

B. Investments of prize proceeds made by the Department to fund the payment of an annuitized prize are to be held in the name of the Department or the Commonwealth and not in the name of the prize winner. Any claim of a prize winner to a future payment remains inchoate until the date the payment is due under Department regulations.

C. Except as provided in Chapter 19 (§ 63.2-1900 et seq.) of Title 63.2 and this chapter, no lottery prize or installment thereof may be subject to garnishment or to a lien of any kind until such prize or installment thereof has been paid or distributed.

D. Whenever the Department or the Director is or may be named as a party in any proceeding instituted by or on behalf of one or more persons who claim ownership of a winning lottery ticket, prize, share or portion thereof for the purpose of determining the ownership or right to such ticket, prize, share or portion thereof, the Director may voluntarily pay or tender the prize, share or portion thereof into the circuit court where the action is filed, or may be ordered to do so by the court, and shall thereupon be discharged from all liability as between the claimants of such ticket, prize, share or portion thereof without regard to whether such payment was made voluntarily or pursuant to a court order.

Nothing in this section shall be deemed to constitute a waiver of the sovereign immunity of the Commonwealth or to authorize any attachment, garnishment, or lien against the prize, share or portion thereof paid into the court except as permitted by subsection C.

1987, c. 531; 1992, c. 449; 1995, c. 423; 2003, c. 924.