X-Message-Number: 4719
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 20:59:43 -0800
From:  (American Cryonics Society)
Subject: TWO CRYONICS TRUSTS ARE BETTER THAN ONE

The suggestions of John de Rivaz (see message #4711) on cryonics trusts are
good ones.  As with most good ideas, they have been thought of before, and
implemented years ago.

Yes, John, we have a "specimen trust."  We call it a "model trust," we also
have a "model will" and a "model will and trust."  We have had these
documents since we employed a lawyer to draft them for us (after a "legal
check-up") in 1983.  They were revised and updated in 1991.

This model trust is a California trust.  People outside California can
still establish California trusts.  This just means the trust would be
administered under California law.  We feel most comfortable with
California trusts since we are a California company, and we and our lawyers
are most familiar with California trust law.  For members who want a trust
under the laws of another state or country, we require that they pay for us
to have a lawyer in that state or country review the proposed trust
document, give us an opinion on legality, and point out possible problems.
Based on that review, the ACS Board of Governors elects to accept or reject
administration of the trust.

As I said in my previous posting, this model trust has not been tested in
the courts as a "non-profit" trust.  Also, it is intended as a guide for
members to take to their own lawyers.  Any member using a trust for funding
cryonics is well advised to employ his or her own legal expert.  There are
many issues, especially involving tax consequences, which are very
individual.  One size does not fit all.

John, you also ask about a trust "domiciled in a tax free country."
Off-shore trusts are used by some of our members, but usually as a method
of diversification.  Tax considerations are secondary.  I am personally
uncomfortable with off-shore trusts as a primary funding vehicle for
cryonic suspension.  This is because of the long-term characteristic of
cryonics.  When more than one country is involved, devaluation of currency,
laws against taking money out of a county, and tax laws both in the U.S.
and in the other country or two, may be complications which will add to the
risk, not the safety, of such a plan.

As you suggest John, diversification can be achieved by establishing more
than one trust.  This multi-trust approach is especially important for
members who have considerable funds over the minimum required.  Besides
having more than one trust to be administered by ACS, some of our members
also have designated Saul Kent and Bill Faloon's Reanimation Foundation,
and "a trust company to be designated by CryoCare," as oversight
organizations for a part of their funds.  Quite frankly I would like to see
our members also able to designate the Cryonics Institute and Alcor as
trustees, but to the best of my knowledge, neither organization is set up
for that kind of inter-organizational trust-fund cooperation.

In this, as in my previous discussion of trusts for cryonics, I don't want
to give the impression that use of trusts is the do-all and end-all of
cryonics fund management.  With the suspension of a number of our members
in recent years who had set up these trusts, we are just now working
through the practicalities of trust management as these trust funds are
distributed to us through probate.  We will be using professional trust
management for the funds themselves, with ACS managing the "experiment"
(suspension and long-term cryogenic maintenance).

Long life,

Jim Yount

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American Cryonics Society                 (408)734-4200
                   FAX (408)734-4441
P.O. Box 1509
Cupertino, CA 95015
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