X-Message-Number: 14527
From: 
Date: Sat, 23 Sep 2000 11:26:45 EDT
Subject: trusts again

Iggy Dybal has asked--as many are constantly asking--about vehicles for 
personal funds after revival.

Once more, there are several possibilities. ACS offers a form of trust. 
Several states, notably Delaware, have rescinded the rule against 
perpetuities to one degree or another, and we can supply the name of a 
knowedgeable law firm not related to CI. Foreign-based trusts can also be 
used, but no one knows how the laws may change in the future, either here or 
abroad, and the costs are significant, the returns generally poor, and the 
professional managers not conversant with cryonics. 

It is also possible to use the trust drawn many years ago for the Cryonics 
Society of New York by a Rutgers law professor. Basically, it recognizes the 
rule against perpetuities and provides that, if the patient has not been 
revived by the time the Rule kicks in (a life in being plus 20 years, or 
something like that) then the funds are to be transferred to a named cryonics 
organization. 

The Communist motto Mr. Dybal mentions--"From each according to his ability, 
to each according to his need"--has been thoroughly discredited as a social 
covenant, because it is unworkable and guarantees corruption, and in practice 
"abilities" and "needs" are dictated by those in power. However--and I hope 
this won't taint us with the word "Communism"--something like that, in a very 
narrow context, can be achieved by leaving your money to your cryonics 
organization without strings. You are not guaranteed personal and exclusive 
use of the funds, but the extra funding will help all patients, including 
yourself, and might conceivably be crucial in the organization's viability or 
capabilities, which in turn could be crucial to your own survival. The 
directors of the cryonics organization are much more likely to know your best 
interests than are some paid professional trustees. I personally will leave 
the bulk of my estate to CI, as several other members have done or plan to do.

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
http://www.cryonics.org 

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