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Issues Facing Trustees of Personal Revival TrustsEric Engelhardt, J.D.This article was adapted from a lecture given by Attorney Eric Engelhardt at the 1st Annual Colloquium on the Law of Transhuman Persons, December 10, 2005, at the Space Coast Office of Terasem Movement, Inc., Melbourne Beach, Florida. Engelhardt discusses the use of personal revival trusts as a method of asset preservation and distribution for persons undergoing cryogenic preservation. This is a new (and growing) field of law; nonetheless, Engelhardt is able to identify the most effective approaches, as well as the most likely challenges. The more forethought given to this complex subject, the more successful and smooth the transition from a preserved to a revived state. A personal revival trust is any type of trust that is set up to hold assets for a cryogenically person until they are revived. These trusts might also be called other names, such as dynasty trusts, cryonic trusts, or asset preservation trusts, but the concept is the same. That is, if a person is planning to have his body or consciousness preserved, he would also want his assets preserved. What are the alternatives to preserving one’s assets? If a person is legally dead, he could give his assets outright to a non-profit organization, or to family or friends. If that route is taken, the question still remains, how will the person support himself when The law has not yet developed in this field, but we can talk about some issues that could affect the trustees and how to avoid potential problems. The first issue that may confront a trustee is defending challenges against the trust itself. There could be an immediate attack on the trust, or challenges could arise much later down the road. Under common law, a trustee has a fiduciary duty to protect the trust’s assets for purposes specified by the grantor. This has been codified by every state. Under the Uniform Trust Code[1], a trustee has a duty to administer the trust in accordance with its terms and to defend the trust against claims. In addition, there is another practical consideration and motivation for trustees to defend a trust, which is to protect the trustee fees (the payment for being trustee). This might be motivation alone to keep it intact. Possible Challenges to the Trust Another possible claimant is a disgruntled heir who has been disinherited and who would have otherwise received assets by intestacy[2]. He may challenge or try to invalidate the will or trust. Other possibilities are beneficiaries of the will or trust who are not satisfied with what they are to receive from the trust of the estate. The IRS is unlikely to be a claimant against a trust because it has come to terms with the Rule Against Perpetuities, which limits the IRS to a one-time estate tax. As a matter of fact, if the income is allows to accumulate and remain in the trust, then the IRS is likely to get more income tax from it. Footnotes 2. Intestacy, or Intestate succession, is the distribution of [proportioned] inheritances to heirs according to a state’s laws about who should collect. This is done when the property is not covered by a valid will. |
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he is revived? How far is the organization that is preserving the body going to go toward reintroducing that person back into society? Will the revived person’s employment or career field be around anymore? Will the revived person approach grandchildren and great-grandchildren looking for handouts? There may be an ethical responsibility on their behalf to help, but they have no legal obligation to do so. As you can see, relying on these alternatives is risky; therefore, as more people seek to preserve their bodies, the demand for personal revival trusts will grow.