In some ways, modern science is making it harder to put together your estate plan in New York. Thanks to modern technology, women can now freeze their eggs so that they can be used for reproduction at a later date, by another person. You could do this yourself, or one of your descendents—like your own daughter—could choose to do it.
In fact, this is becoming more common and noteworthy thanks to actions taken by large companies. Both Facebook and Apple, two of the biggest players on the tech stage, have been covering the procedure as a way of offering benefits to employees.
So, when you put an estate plan together, how do people born from frozen eggs factor in? If you have frozen your own eggs, do you want the person who eventually uses them to then have a child who is included in the plan? If, as in the example above, your daughter decides to do this, are you going to extend the plan all the way to any children born through that process?
There are no laws governing what you have to do, so the ball is in your court. If you want to offer part of your estate to these descendents, you can, and you can also keep it from them if you’d like.
What is important to note, though, is that some provision for this may need to be made in your estate plan to ensure that your wishes are carried out. Make sure that you take all of the proper legal steps so that your descendents know what to do, especially if this keeps growing in popularity.
Source: Forbes, “How Freezing Eggs Can Affect Your Estate Plan” Joan M. Burda, Dec. 29, 2014
