Just in case you’re even thinking about it, forget it if you’re in Australia! This story reports on an Australian widow who has been refused the right to impregnate herself with her dead husband’s sperm because she did not have his written consent to do so. The 36-year-old woman had been married to her husband for more than eight years when he was killed in a car accident in July 1998. Within 24 hours of his death the woman received court authority – and the consent of the dead man’s parents – to have his sperm taken and stored at a Melbourne hospital. Victorian Supreme Court judge Kim Hargrave subsequently ruled that Australian law did not allow the taking of sperm or ova from the dead for the purpose of reproduction if the person had not consented in writing to the procedure before their death.
My guess is that it wont be long before some probate judge somewhere in Florida has to grapple with the same issue. Also, is this one more item to consider when we’re working on a couples’ estate plan?
Source: Legacy Matters