X-Message-Number: 11018
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: Escrow accounts and the expense of cryonics
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1999 22:12:08 +1100 (EST)

Hi everyone!

About escrow accounts: the major problem with such accounts, just as with
trusts, etc is that in many US states and many countries there is a limit
on just how long the money can be held. After some period, it ends up with
some governmental body.

Fortunately this is not universal among all countries. However it does
cause expense and problems if you happen to live in one of the countries 
which do this. And it also means that there is NO simple way to provide
money for yourself after your revival. 

As I understand it, Alcor makes a promise that it will provide you with
whatever is left after it has suspended you, kept you in suspension, and
revived you... if you provide more than the minimum amount. I would not
be surprised if other cryonics societies make a similar promise. Because
of the problems above, there is no way in which such promises can be 
given any LEGAL FORCE by a cryonics society domiciled in a country or 
state which appropriates money as described above.

This doesn't mean that such promises are empty. After all, if we recall
that no one can promise to revive you in the first place, and your 
suspension itself depends not on any legal contract but solely on the 
good will of a cryonics society of like-minded people, the issue of money
kind of fades in importance. So long as cryonics societies consist of 
people who themselves want to be suspended if necessary, they are quite
likely to help out anyone they can revive. That's not a statement of law
but a statement about psychology. After all, if you want to be suspended,
you want your society to be around to keep you suspended. And one of the
best ways to ensure that is to do well by anyone whom your society has
presently suspended. 

And of course one of the worst ways to ensure that your society continues
is to neglect those who have put themselves under your care.

And to Thomas Nord: Yes, cryonics can be expensive, but its expense should
be measured not against the price of a new suit but against the price of
a house or major medical treatment (if you live in a country where some
kind of socialized medicine exists, you may not pay that cost of medical
treatment yourself but it still comes from somewhere). I'd be quite 
interested to know how expensive the suspension to which you refer turned
out to be.

		         Best and long long life to all,


				Thomas Donaldson

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