A $560 million lottery ticket is in jeopardy as the winner risks her fortune to remain anonymous

Flickr/PROPhil Roeder

The winner of a $560 million Powerball jackpot is going to court to fight for her anonymity. She is not pictured here.

• A New Hampshire woman won the Powerball jackpot of $560 million in January, but has yet to claim her winnings.
• She wishes to remain anonymous - but she has already put her name on the back of her ticket, meaning she can't use a trust to conceal her identity.
• The unidentified winner is going to court in hopes of getting her winnings while maintaining anonymity.

After winning the Powerball a month ago, one woman has yet to cash in.

In New Hampshire, an unidentified woman won a Powerball jackpot of $559.7 million in January - but she still hasn't claimed her winnings. NewHampshire.com has received court documents that a Jane Doe wishes to receive the jackpot winnings while remaining anonymous, which is not usually allowed.

The New Hampshire Lottery Commission requires that lottery winners write their name, address, and telephone number on the back of the lucky ticket. The woman who won the $560 million jackpot quickly signed her name on the back, but has called that a "huge mistake."

The winner could have remained anonymous had the ticket been signed in the name of a trust, but Jane Doe was not aware she could do that before she wrote her own name. After learning she won the jackpot, the woman went to the lottery's website and read the rules before discussing the situation with legal counsel.

Steven Senne/AP

The owner of Reed's Market Ferry, where the winning ticket was purchased.

According to NewHampshire.com, her lawyer wrote that Jane Doe is an engaged member of the community and "she wishes to continue this work and the freedom to walk into a grocery store or attend public events without being known or targeted as the winner of a half-billion dollars."

Her legal team has requested to white-out her name and write the name of a trust over it, but the lottery commission says that would void her winnings. Any alteration to the ticket purchased at Reed's Ferry Market in Merrimack would invalidate it, the lottery commission claims.

A hearing has been set by the county clerk to decide whether to give injunctive relief. Jane Doe will arrive at court on February 21. Jane Doe is being represented by attorney Steve Gordon from Shaheen & Gordon, PA. Gordon's legal partner, William Shaheen, is married to Jeanne Shaheen, US senator for New Hampshire.