I never thought about how long it would take me to claim my lottery prize, I guess it depends on how much the prize really is... Maybe it would be good to organize everything properly before accepting the prize, a new bank account or maybe more accounts, some in foreign currencies. When you think about it, it might be wise to invest most of the money right away in some things that will generate additional profit, while also protecting against overspending. And if we organize that before receiving the prize it will minimize the chance of becoming greedy with so much money.

It's one thing to talk about it, but getting a huge amount of money from once affects the human psyche a lot. That's why this waiting period even sounds reasonable, it's always better to be patient and slowly get into some new things.