Recently, both Apple and Facebook made news when it was reported that both companies decided (or were considering) coverage of the expenses of their female employees who wanted to freeze their eggs. (CNNMoney.Ben Rooney.’Facebook, Apple pay to freeze employees eggs’-Oct.2014) “Egg freezing allows women to focus on advancing their career during peak childbearing years without sacrificing their fertility.”
The science also has been applied for women who are facing medical procedures which could affect their future fertility. In some medical situations, insurance would cover the freezing of eggs; other situations have been determined to be elective procedures and not covered.
Whether you agree or disagree with the concept of assisted reproduction technique, the ‘ticking time bomb’ of assisted reproduction and frozen genetic material can lead to some very complex estate planning issues.
Let’s take one example: your daughter, Mary, works for ‘Apple’ and has had her eggs frozen, then marries Bill. Before Mary and Bill can have children together, Mary dies. Mary has designated her husband Bill as “heir” to her frozen eggs. You lose touch with Bill and later find out that Bill remarried. Bill’s new wife, Suzie, is infertile. Bill and Suzie decide to use a gestational surrogate and Mary’s frozen eggs to have a child. Is the child from the second marriage (Bill and Suzie) your grandchild? Remember, the child was ‘conceived’ using your daughter Mary’s frozen eggs.
This complicated scenario can play out equally with frozen genetic material (sperm) of a husband.
We cannot ignore how frozen genetic material may impact the estate planning process. We need to answer - Is there the potential of descendants being born using assisted reproductive technology?
Working with your estate planning lawyer, find out if assisted reproduction technology-the freezing of genetic material has occurred or is likely to occur with respect to any of your (future/potential) heirs. Those conversations may be awkward, but necessary for estate planning purposes.
Then be specific in your documents as to the definition of child, grandchild, etc.
A generic form taken from the shelf will not offer the solutions that you need to clearly define who will be receiving your legacy. The “standard” legal definitions of children, grandchildren and heirs are probably not sufficient for your will or estate plan. Such “off the shelf’ documents can often create unforeseen results with respect to the inheritance you intended to leave.
Remember, no one is ‘entitled’ to receive anything from your estate. The decision is yours, but the definitions must be clear to determine who will receive an inheritance.