CRYOPRESERVATION AND WEALTH

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Episode 151 – MARK HOUSE

Cryopreservation and wealth was once the purview of science fiction and Hollywood. Freezing one’s self to be revived in the future is not just something out of Issac Asimov book or a Ridley Scott movie. The science, estate planning, and economics of this “call option on immortality” are here right now.

There are legitimate and current issues with cryopreservation and wealth- fascinating ones at that! Science, estate planning, ethics, governance, economics and good old-fashioned drafting are in focus as I speak with Scottsdale-based attorney MARK HOUSE.

We’re going to get our arms around the misconceptions of the freezing process and what that means legally and practically. With that background, we’ll dive into the structuring and drafting considerations to effectuate this amazing concept. Finally, we have some fun by guessing at what the world may look like with revived citizens hundreds of years from now.

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND

-How did Mark get into estate planning and how did he get into cryonics?

CRYONICS

-Let’s define freezing “pre-death” vs “post-death.”

-Behind the Science: GREG FAHY’S WORK and BIO

-What is the legal and funding process?

ESTATE PLANNING AROUND CRYOPRESERVATION AND WEALTH

-Usually when people die (and the being’s existence terminates), the assets transfer to beneficiaries. However, here something different happens.

-Is there a difference between being kept alive but in “suspended animation” and dying?

-Does having various features including DNA maps serve as the basis for a new being?

DIRECTED TRUSTS

-Ownership in a trust should be able to provide the structure that allows the Grantor to be resuscitated when the science catches up.

-Trusts have a Grantor, Trustee, Corpus (literally in this case) and beneficiaries.

-Trustees must administer, invest and distribute.

-How does a directed trust allow the Grantor’s intent to persist?

TRUST REQUIREMENTS

-Perpetuity and a Good Trust Protector Structure are vital.

-With that in place, trustees must have distribution flexibility and discretion around “beneficiary determination”

-Why is it important to have broad Trustee choice?

-If we’re making guesses about the future, why is nimble decision-making process around “science determinations” important?

-When talking about investment flexibility, is endowing a future being a “prudent investment’? If so, how does a trustee sign off on that?

CRYOPRESERVATION AND WEALTH ISSUES

-Who pays the freezer? How much does this cost?

-Once we know that, how does the trust pay for it?

-When should a person use life insurance? When employed, does the presumption of death change anything?

-What happens if you run out of funds?

-Does it make sense to (also) endow the future persons’ lifestyle? If not, how will they function in the future?

-Should other the trust not include future beneficiaries to reduce a potential future conflict

-How do you staff this? (See here for an interview with Betsy Brown on Corporate Trustees designed to deal with tricky situations: https://frazerrice.com/ep-63-betsy-brown/)

-What if the individual or corporate trustees cease to exist? (Trust protector)

-Is there liability for the science committee if they unfreeze too soon? Can other beneficiaries then be added? Should they be?

-Are private trust companies common in these situations?