Take the Money and Die (Leaving your estate to your reanimated corpse)

Slate ^ | Jan. 23, 2006 | William Saletan

[Lorianne]

Rich people are freezing their bodies and leaving their money to themselves. According to the Wall Street Journal, 142 people have had their heads or bodies frozen, roughly 1,000 have made similar arrangements, and at least a dozen (the rest are keeping mum, according to participants) have set up "revival trusts."

[lndrvr1972]

You cant blame them. Why is there is death tax. Hell, you have paid taxes your whole life. I dont blame them.

[mhx]

So you see, if you're the lawyer, you just pocket the contents of the trust after the person dies.

After all, once the lawyer dies, and then the rich guy is resuscitated, what's he going to do about it?

[Fiddlstix]

None of this nonsense for me. When I die just dig a hole and throw me in and cover it up.
Say a simple eulogy something like," He died and we buried him".
Then everybody get back to taking care of their business.
Life goes on.

[LibWhacker]

Rich people are freezing their bodies and leaving their money to themselves.

Lol, there the MSM goes again, sniveling about the rich.

Actually, cryonics fans, the rich and poor ones alike, have been doing this for decades. Do you want to be revived flat broke AND unemployable, because everything you know is obsolete?

[caryatid]

Rich people are freezing their bodies and leaving their money to themselves.

This could easily qualify as the ultimate in narcissism.     LOL

[DB]

That and your fried brain functions like a 2 month old... Permanently...

[coconutt2000]

One word...

"Futurama"...


If that's the future, don't revive me.

[AntiGuv]

Well, since I've made such arrangements, lemme take a shot at the questions.

1) Can your clone collect the money, or do doctors have to bring you back with your memories?

No, a clone can't collect. Don't be silly.

2) Do you have to return your life insurance payout?

No. You did die, after all. Or stated differently, the circumstance that you were insured against took place. That's like saying you have to return your home owner's insurance payout after you rebuild the house.

3) If they figure out how to revive and cure you, isn't that good fortune enough?

Of course it is, but good fortune is kind of like bandwidth. You can never have too much bandwidth!

[1955Ford]

liquid nitrogen freezing does not work on anything bigger than a few cells. And these need to be permeated with a cryoprotectant. When a larger item like a head is plunged in liq N2 every cell membrane is broken. Cells cannot be revived after their membrane is broken. It's a scam.

[AntiGuv]

Umm.. Modern cryonics is achieved by vitrification, which doesn't form any crystals that would rupture the cell membrane. They don't just toss a head into a vat of liquid nitrogen. LOL

[MeanWestTexan]

I would think this kind of trust violates the "Rule Against Purpetuities" or whatever my lawyer called it when I tried to create an eternal trust to take care of all my direct-line descendants from here on.

[AntiGuv]

Yes, it definitely violates any applicable "Rule Against Perpetuities" so it requires careful estate planning. The trust must be set up in a jurisdiction without such a prohibition. And then hope for the best!