The Illinois winner of July’s Mega Millions $1.34 billion lottery drawing has only ten days left to decide whether they would like to paid annually or all at once, according to state lottery officials.

Waiting to claim a lottery fortune is common — most legal and financial experts advise getting your ducks in a row before stepping forward. But the deadline for the July 29 winner’s decision is rapidly approaching.

According to the Illinois Lottery’s Winner’s Handbook, if a decision is not made, the winner will automatically be paid annually.The largest was in South Carolina in 2018 when a single ticket fetched $1.53 billion. Millions lottery tickets are sold at a 7-Eleven store in the Loop on January 22, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois.

The jackpot in the drawing has climbed to $970 million, the third highest in the game's history

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