The fundamental contract for cryopreservation at the Cryonics Institute is the Cryonic Suspension Agreement, to be signed by the Member while mentally competent. It is the primary document for the legal basis of the service. It gives the Cryonics Institute the legal right to hold the physical remains of the person who has signed the agreement. A person has the right to specify what is to be done with their own body after legal death in most countries where the Cryonics Institute has Members, including the United States. When explicit directions for disposition of one's own remains has been given, these directions generally take precedence over the wishes of next-of-kin (unless next-of-kin can prove that the directions were given under conditions of psychological dysfunction or duress).

Much of the agreement is devoted to disclaimers, limitations of liability, and statements that the Member's estate and relatives will have little or no recourse if CI or its employees make mistakes, even through negligence. The reason is obvious. If we leave our organization open to a lawsuit on any basis whatsoever, it would not merely put our assets at risk, but also the lives of every patient and Member. We simply can't take that risk. The disclaimers and limitations of liability in the contract are meant primarily to protect both CI and its Member patients against relatives or heirs.

Needless to say, we have no intention of allowing negligence of any sort to take place, and have other ways of making sure that negligence never occurs. Our facilities, for instance, are open to inspections by Members at their request.

The people most likely to consider lawsuits are those relatives or heirs who are not interested in the possible revival of the patient, but only in his or her money. Therefore it is essential to phrase the contract so as to eliminate any possibility of recourse in the clearest and strongest possible way.

Remember that CI has no stockholders and no paid Directors. There is no profit motive or any reason whatsoever to neglect giving proper care. The usual distinction between "customers" and "owners" or "management" is not present. The Cryonics Institute is owned and operated by the Members who have made cryopreservation arrangements. Those Members elect the Directors who can only be Members who have made cryopreservation arrangements. The Directors appoint the Officers who can only be Members who have made cryopreservation arrangements.

It is up to you to satisfy yourself that CI is worthy of your trust. We think it is: we're an open, non-profit organization, any one of whose Members can examine our financial statements and practices and facilities, elect Directors in free and open elections, and run for Director themselves.

We've been in business for nearly a quarter of a century, and we currently have by far the largest number of patients in cryostasis. It's true that our contract is weighted towards protecting the Institute from the possibility of frivolous or destructive lawsuits - but in the long run that protects you too.

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LOCAL HELP RIDER (to the Cryonic Suspension Agreement)

The fees for cryopreservation at the Cryonics Institute are $28,000 for Lifetime Members and $35,000 for Yearly Members. These are the prices that would apply to someone living in Michigan near the Cryonics Institute. For someone living outside of southeastern Michigan, there will be extra costs associated with the services of a local (local to the Member) funeral director and shipment of the patient to the Cryonics Institute in Michigan. For someone living on the West Coast of the United States these costs might be as much as $3,000 and for someone living overseas the costs would be even higher.

The Local Help Rider is an agreement whereby the Member funds above the minimum $28,000 (Lifetime Member) or $35,000 (Yearly Member) through insurance or pre-payment. The Rider acknowledges the extra funding that has been provided and asserts that as long as the extra funding is available, the Cryonics Institute will use that funding to pay for the costs of the Member's funeral director and shipping. There are two versions of the Local Help Rider, one for Lifetime Members and one for Yearly Members. The only difference between the two versions is that the Lifetime Member Local Help Rider refers to funding above $28,000 and the Yearly Member Local Help Rider refers to funding above $35,000

If the family of the Member can be counted upon to pay the expenses of a funeral director that is local to the Member, including costs of shipping the Member/Patient to the Cryonics Institute, then the Local Help Rider is not required.

If the Member has a Suspended Animation Local Help Rider to provide Standby and Transport from Suspended Animation, Inc., then there is no need for the standard Cryonics Institute Local Help Rider because all funeral director and shipping expenses are paid-for in the Suspended Animation Transport costs. (See Suspended Animation Standby and Transport for more details.)

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YEARLY MEMBERSHIP RIDER (to the Cryonic Suspension Agreement)

The Lifetime Membership in the Cryonics Institute is obtained by a one-time payment of $1,250. The Yearly Member is not a Member for life, but is only a Member so long as the periodic dues are paid ($120 per year or $35 per quarter).

The Yearly Membership Rider simply states that the Cryonic Suspension Agreement can only remain in force while Yearly Membership dues are paid in full in a timely manner. Only Yearly Membership Members who have executed a Cryonic Suspension Agreement require an Yearly Member Rider. No equivalent agreement is required for Lifetime Members.

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NON-SUSPENSION RIDER (to the Cryonic Suspension Agreement)

The Non-Suspension Rider allows the Member to specify what will be done with the funds allotted for cryopreservation if no cryopreservation occurs (for example, if the Member is lost at sea, is killed in an airplane crash and no remains are found, etc.) The choices provided are (1) give the money to CI, (2) arrange for the money to fund the cryopreservation of a specific person (3) give the money to a specific person or (4) give the money to the Member's estate to be distributed according to the provisions of the Member's Last Will and Testament. If the money is to be given to the Cryonics Institute, the Member can specify whether the money should go to Research, to pay for cryopreservation of needy CI Members or to be used for CI Operations where it can do the most good for the operation of the organization.

Some Members donate their money to the Cryonics Institute because of their belief in the cause of cryonics, even if they had failed to personally benefit. Some Members also recognize that there is a danger in returning their cryopreservation funding money to family Members or surrogates if those people stand to gain monetarily from the failure of the cryopreservation. It happened recently that the cousin of a CI Member who was the beneficiary of the money if the cryopreservation failed caused the Member to be autopsied and cremeated.

The Non-Suspension Rider replaced what was formerly called "Rider A ", in an effort to be more clear, reduce confusion and provide more choices. "Version 1" of Rider A distributed the unused money to the estate, whereas "Version 2" of Rider A donated the money to the Cryonics Institute.

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FOREIGN FUNDS RIDER (to the Cryonic Suspension Agreement)

The Foreign Funds Rider is an attempt to ensure that funding for cryopreservation that is not denominated in US Dollars does not fall below the allotted minimums because of fluxuations in exchange rates. A $2,000 buffer is put in the agreement to begin with, and a $7,000 buffer is added if the $2,000 buffer is breached.

Thus, the US Dollar denominated Lifetime Member minimum is $28,000 and the US Dollar denominated Yearly Member minimum is $35,000. The Lifetime Member version of the Foreign Funds Rider specifies that the Cryonic Suspension Agreement remains in force so long as the value of the foreign funding is above US$30,000 and that the Cryonics Institute can require funding of US$35,000 if the value of the foreign funding drops below US$30,000 for the Cryonic Suspension Agreement to remain in force. The Yearly Member version of the Foreign Funds Rider specifies that the Cryonic Suspension Agreement remains in force so long as the value of the foreign funding is above US$37,000 and that the Cryonics Institute can require funding of US$42,000 if the value of the foreign funding drops below US$35,000 for the Cryonic Suspension Agreement to remain in force.

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UNIFORM DONOR FORM

The Uniform Donor Form is a contract by which the Patient donates his or her body upon legal death to the Cryonics Institute in accordance with the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA). The document also specifies that the donation should take place as soon as possible and without embalming or autopsy.

The Uniform Donor Form provides additional legal documentation supporting the wishes of the Patient to have his or her body cryopreserved. We have often FAXed this document to hospitals where a Member was pronounced (or soon to be pronounced) legally dead as proof that the Patient desired to be cryopreserved. Without a document that states a Patients wishes for the disposition of remains, the next of kin has the default authority over what is to be done with the Patient's body. The Cryonic Suspension Agreement should give proof of the desire of the Patient, but it is long and complicated -- and does not invoke the UAGA.

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NEXT OF KIN AGREEMENT

The Next of Kin Agreement is a contract between the Member (Patient) and the Next-of-Kin having the most legal authority over the patient (spouse, parent, child, or sibling). In the Next of Kin Agreement the Next of Kin assigns authority over the body of the Member to the Cryonics Institute and furthermore agrees to take actions necessary to permit and forgo (=forego) all actions which might interfere with the cryopreservation of the Member. The Next of Kin accepts $1 in exchange for relinquishing the authority and agreeing to do as specified. The contract asserts that the exchange of money has taken place to make the contract valid. The Cryonics Institute is also a party to the contract.

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CONSENT/RELEASE FOR CRYOPRESERVATION

The Consent/Release for Cryopreservation is intended to be a less stringent document than the Next of Kin Agreement, and was created for cases where a Next of Kin might refuse the stringent conditions of the Next of Kin agreement, but agree to the terms of the Consent/Release for Cryopreservation. This agreement is also designed for relatives who are not as close to the Member as the Next of Kin.

The Consent/Release for Cryopreservation acknowledges the desire of the Member to be cryopreserved and the fact of the contract between the Member and the Cryonics Institute. The signer of the Consent/Release for Cryopreservation "accedes" to the wishes of the Member concerning the disposition of the Member's body as well as authorizing and directing that the body be delivered to the Cryonics Institute for cryopreservation immediately after the clinical death of the Member.

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STORAGE AGREEMENTS

The "Cryonic Storage Agreement for Member" is used for Cryonics Institute Members who have deanimated (died) without having executed a Cryonic Suspension Agreement. This agreement is signed by the Next of Kin for the legally deceased Member and the cryopreservation fee is at the Member rate of $28,000.

The "Cryonic Storage Agreement for NonMember" is used for persons who have deanimated (died) who are not Members of the Cryonics Institute and without having executed a Cryonic Suspension Agreement. This agreement is signed by the Next of Kin for the legally deceased Member and the cryopreservation fee is at the Non-Member rate of $35,000 -- plus the $1,250 Option One Membership Fee.

The "Memorabilia Storage Agreement" is ONLY available to Cryonics Institute Members who have already executed contracts for cryopreservation at CI and who have full funding in place. The US$1,000 Memorabilia Storage Fee is non-refundable, even if the Member dies without being cryopreserved and the contents must be returned to agents of the deceased Member.

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ANCILLARY DOCUMENTS

Certificate of Religious Belief and Religious Objection to Autopsy: Occasionally this will carry some weight, especially in certain states, if in fact you have such an objection. But it may not help if the death is of a type requiring referral to the medical examiner -- although even then we have in a couple of cases been able to prevent autopsy just by persuasion. For a detailed description of the Certificate of Religious Belief and Religious Objection to Autopsy see Avoiding Autopsy for Cryonics.

Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care: Most states have statutory forms. This allows the patient, among other things, to give a specified person authority to make health care decisions (such as permission for surgery) if the patient is unable to do so. This authority may include disposal after death. It also allows the patient to specify when or under what circumstances medical staff should stop trying to resuscitate the patient. For a detailed description of the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Living Will, see Advanced Directives for Cryonics Institute Members.

Perfusion Preference Statement: allows CI Members having funding and contracts for human cryopreservation to state whether or not they would want body perfusion in addition to the head perfusion and brain vitrification which is the current Cryonics Institute standard. With current technology body perfusion can do no better that reduce (not eliminate) ice formation. Body perfusion may compromise the quality of brain preservation by increased ischemic damage and possibly cryoprotectant toxicity, although this may change with technology. Members not stating a personal preference leave the decision concerning perfusion to the Cryonics Institute. This document does not need to be witnessed or notarized and is used as a guideline rather than as a contract.

Last Will and Testament (Regarding the Disposition of My Human Remains): may be of some additional support to the other paperwork, although the Cryonics Institute relies on the Cryonic Suspension Agreement and the Uniform Donor Form as the legal authorization for CI to have custody of the body of the Patient/Member. It is not a necessary document. This "boiler-plate" version supplied is intended for use either as the primary Will or as a Codicil to a primary Will. This document forbids autopsy, relieves others of liability for assisting with the cryopreservation and effectively disinherits (leaves $1.00) to anyone acting contrary to the wishes expressed in the Will. If the document is to be a Will rather than a Codicil, it names the Executor of the Estate of the Patient/Member.

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FUNDING

For comments on funding, please see our Funding Human Cryopreservation with the Cryonics Institute page.

To browse all of the Cryonics Institute contracts, go to the Cryonics Institute Paperwork section of the Cryonics Institute Website Site Contents page.

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