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Issues Facing Trustees of Personal Revival Trusts

Eric Engelhardt, J.D.

page 5 of 5

The next question is, to whom exactly are we going to distribute the assets? Will it be the old biological body, a new biological body with the old consciousness, or a non-biological body with the old Engelhardt consciousness? It could be a lot of different things. The trustee will have to look at the trust document in order to determine this, so the more specific it is in the document, the better. If it is vague in any way, it is likely to delay distributions.

The following is a possible scenario that could cause some confusion. A trustee is sitting in his office and someone walks in and says, “Hi. I'm the grantor. I'm back and I'd like my money.” The entity is a non-biological version of the grantor's consciousness, which is allowed under the document. The trustee gives the grantor the money. The next week, the original body of the grantor comes in and says, “I'm back and I'd like my money.” Now what? The trustee will have some explaining to do!

One solution is to spell out in the document, as specifically as possible, the guidelines for distribution. Another possibility is to say that the trust continues for a non-biological version, but if the biological version ever does come back, they are the ultimate recipient of the assets. This leads to another theoretical concept, which is that you could have two versions of the grantor in court, fighting each other for the same assets.

Conclusion
In closing, it is likely that these types of trusts will become more common in the near future as an increasing number of people are cryogenically preserved. The pertaining law is not developed yet, but in the meantime, it is important to address some of these issues and keep flexibility in the document as issues evolve.

Eric Engelhardt is a trust consultant with 14 years of experience working in the financial services industry. He specializes in helping clients achieve personal and financial goals through the use of trusts. Engelhardt is a certified financial planner and a member of the Trust & Estates section of the New York Bar Association.

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