One of the difficulties facing cryonics patients is the question of how to pay for their resuscitation and re-integration into society. Ideally, it would be possible to set up trusts that will accumulate interest until the patient is ready to be revived.
However, it turns out it's very hard to set up long lived funds that will survive legal death. A variety of parasites--heirs, churches, government--will turn up to try to seize the money once the patient is dead, and the courts tend to favor the demands of the living over the desires of the "dead".
Consider the cautionary tale of James Holdeen:
"Beginning in 1945, Holdeen set up a group of charitable trusts for the benefit of Pennsylvania. He believed state law here was favorable to his plan. Over the years, Holdeen deposited $2.8 million in the trusts.
His plan was to let the trusts grow, and to keep plowing the investment income back into them, for 500 to 1,000 years. Since charitable trusts are tax-exempt, the pool of money would become immense.
By Holdeen's calculations, the trusts would contain quadrillions or quintillions of dollars after a few centuries - more than enough to pay all the expenses of Pennsylvania government. "
To try to make his plan conform with legal requirements, Holdeen had named the Unitarian Universalist Church as a beneficiary of charitable trusts, with the understanding that the church
would get a tiny portion of the yearly trust income.
While Holdeen was alive, church officials consented to the arrangement. After his death, the church filed suit in Orphans Court seeking all the income. Its lawyers contended that piling up money for 500 or 1,000 years was unreasonable and potentially dangerous.
Eventually, the church argued, the Holdeen trusts would soak up all the world's money, and Jonathan Holdeen's descendants, who were to remain in charge of the trusts, would have unimaginable power.
In 1977, Pawelec ruled in favor of the church, concluding that Holdeen's scheme was ``visionary, unreasonable and socially and economically unsound.''
From then on, income from the trusts, which had grown to more than $20 million, was paid to the Unitarian Church at about $1 million a year. "
#cryonics
#unitarian
http://www.stephankinsella.com/wp-content/uploads/otherdocs/holdeen_trusts.pdf
However, it turns out it's very hard to set up long lived funds that will survive legal death. A variety of parasites--heirs, churches, government--will turn up to try to seize the money once the patient is dead, and the courts tend to favor the demands of the living over the desires of the "dead".
Consider the cautionary tale of James Holdeen:
"Beginning in 1945, Holdeen set up a group of charitable trusts for the benefit of Pennsylvania. He believed state law here was favorable to his plan. Over the years, Holdeen deposited $2.8 million in the trusts.
His plan was to let the trusts grow, and to keep plowing the investment income back into them, for 500 to 1,000 years. Since charitable trusts are tax-exempt, the pool of money would become immense.
By Holdeen's calculations, the trusts would contain quadrillions or quintillions of dollars after a few centuries - more than enough to pay all the expenses of Pennsylvania government. "
To try to make his plan conform with legal requirements, Holdeen had named the Unitarian Universalist Church as a beneficiary of charitable trusts, with the understanding that the church
would get a tiny portion of the yearly trust income.
While Holdeen was alive, church officials consented to the arrangement. After his death, the church filed suit in Orphans Court seeking all the income. Its lawyers contended that piling up money for 500 or 1,000 years was unreasonable and potentially dangerous.
Eventually, the church argued, the Holdeen trusts would soak up all the world's money, and Jonathan Holdeen's descendants, who were to remain in charge of the trusts, would have unimaginable power.
In 1977, Pawelec ruled in favor of the church, concluding that Holdeen's scheme was ``visionary, unreasonable and socially and economically unsound.''
From then on, income from the trusts, which had grown to more than $20 million, was paid to the Unitarian Church at about $1 million a year. "
#cryonics
#unitarian
http://www.stephankinsella.com/wp-content/uploads/otherdocs/holdeen_trusts.pdf