When Apple and Facebook made news recently for paying the expenses of their female employees to freeze their eggs, chances are you didn’t think it would have any effect on your estate plan. But if you have a daughter or a granddaughter, you may be mistaken.
Modern medicine is definitely a game-changer in the estate planning world. How so, you ask?
Apple and Facebook recently decided to offer a new benefit to female employees. The companies will pay to have the eggs of their female employees frozen.
The intent of the companies was undoubtedly to retain female employees who might otherwise have left to start families before it was too late. However, as Forbes
points out in an article titled "How Freezing Eggs Can Affect Your Estate Plan," this could have an impact on estate planning if other companies begin to follow suit.
The original article suggests that your daughter could have her eggs frozen, pass away in an accident and leave the eggs to her husband. If the husband later decides to use a surrogate with those eggs, then the child could be considered your descendent. That means you need to decide whether or not you want to leave a portion of your estate to such a child.
It is obviously not a simple question to answer.
This is just one more way that modern technology is impacting estate planning. In this day and age, you need to make sure that your estate plan is up to date with the latest practices and technology so there are not unwanted surprises for your family later on.
For help with this kind of question and any other Estate Planning questions you may have, visit our website for more information.
Reference: Forbes (December 10, 2014) "How Freezing Eggs Can Affect Your Estate Plan"