Start with the uncomfortable observation that most failed cryopreservation arrangements do not fail for scientific reasons. They fail on paperwork. The member wanted it, the arrangement existed, and then a missing signature, an unclear authorization, or a document nobody could find at 3am turned a settled wish into a legal stalemate. Your preservation will not happen through good intentions or a verbal agreement with a relative. It will happen because a specific, boring set of documents was signed, kept current, and known to the people around you.
This is the part of cryonics you have the most control over, which makes it worth getting right. The law across Europe is mostly silent on cryonics. We map that silence in the legal framework for biostasis in the EU. Your documents are exactly what fills it. There are five that do the heavy lifting. Here is what each one is for, and what its absence costs.
The biostasis contract is the document everything else hangs from
This is the foundational one. Your biostasis contract with Tomorrow.bio establishes the legal relationship between you and the organization: what services will be provided, under what conditions, and what your obligations as a member are. It is the formal expression of informed consent, the record that you understood what you were signing up for and asked for it anyway.
Without it, there is no legal basis for us to perform your preservation at all. Medical facilities will not release your body to a party with no documented authority. Standby teams cannot proceed. The entire process stops before it starts. This is not optional paperwork that improves your odds at the margin; it is the authorization that makes every other step legally possible.
The long-term storage agreement hands you to the people who keep you
Preservation and storage are deliberately separate jobs done by separate organizations, and the long-term storage agreement is the document that bridges them. Preservation and storage are deliberately separate jobs done by separate organizations. The long-term storage agreement is the document that bridges them. Tomorrow.bio performs the preservation. The European Biostasis Foundation, an independent non-profit in Switzerland, is the patient care foundation that takes custody afterwards. It is a legal declaration authorizing the patient care foundation to maintain your long-term preservation storage and to make whatever adaptations are needed to keep that preservation stable over time.
This separation is a feature, not bureaucratic clutter. The entity that arranges your preservation is distinct from the non-profit that holds you for the decades or centuries afterward. That separation is why the answer to what happens if the provider fails is a real answer rather than a shrug. It is also why the long-term storage facility is structured the way it is. This agreement is what formally places you in their care.
The patient advance directive speaks when you cannot
A patient advance directive, or PAD, is a legal document stating your medical wishes for situations where you cannot communicate them yourself. For cryopreservation it does something specific and important: it explicitly authorizes preservation procedures and makes clear that you want this even in circumstances where others might object.
It also has a practical, time-sensitive function that surprises people. We recommend every member create a PAD from the provided templates, because in some cases it helps us be notified more quickly of an unexpected death. If you are admitted to a hospital incapacitated, by a coma or similar, doctors will usually ask for an advance directive. Some countries maintain databases where you can upload yours so a doctor can access it online. Where that does not exist, give a copy to your physician. Keep one somewhere easily reachable, such as a shared document. Make sure your loved ones know how to retrieve it and hand it over. Every country sets its own legal requirements for advance directives, so check the rules for yours. The faster we are notified, the better the preservation, because the first minutes are a race against cellular decay.
The will closes the door on family disputes
Your last will and testament does several jobs at once. It makes your wishes legally clear, which prevents relatives from later claiming they did not know what you wanted. It can authorize access to estate funds if those are needed to cover preservation costs. It designates who has authority to make decisions about your remains. And, most importantly, it pre-empts legal challenges from family members who might oppose your preservation.
Without explicit provisions in the will, a relative can argue they do not know what you intended, or that cryopreservation is not a legitimate way to handle your remains. That argument is much harder to make against a clear, signed instruction. This is the legal backbone of ensuring your wishes are followed, and it matters most precisely when your family is against it.
Funding documentation proves the bill will be paid
An arrangement that nobody can pay for is not an arrangement. If you are funding through life insurance, the policy itself is your funding documentation, and most members fund this way through term or whole life insurance. If you are using an alternative, a trust, pre-payment, or another structure, you need clear documentation of how preservation will actually be paid for.
That documentation has to specify the funding source, the amount available, who has authority to access it, and the process for transferring payment to Tomorrow.bio. Vague intentions here are as dangerous as a missing directive; the full mechanics live in general funding methods and setting up your funding method.
Why this matters more than it looks like it should
Inadequate documentation is one of the genuine reasons cryopreservation arrangements fall apart. The member wanted preservation, the arrangements were made, and then death arrived and a legal obstacle nobody had cleared in advance stopped it from happening. The science can be flawless and still be defeated by an unsigned form.
Three habits prevent almost all of this. First, do not procrastinate; it is easy to sign the initial contract and then let the advance directive, the will, and the funding details drift, but incomplete documentation means incomplete protection. Second, make the documents findable, and tell your family or closest people that they exist and where they are. Have the conversation now, while you are alive. Do not assume the right people will discover everything at the worst possible moment. If that conversation feels hard, we have thought about how to explain this to your family. Third, use templates and then check them locally. You can find templates and copies of all required documents at tomorrow.bio/documents. They are designed to meet legal requirements across various jurisdictions. You should still consult local legal counsel to confirm they fit your specific situation.
The hardest part of cryonics is not the liquid nitrogen; it is making sure that when the moment comes, the paperwork is signed, current, and findable.
None of this is glamorous, and that is rather the point. The documents are the quiet, unspectacular machinery that turns a wish into something the world is obliged to honor. Getting them in place is the difference between a plan and a hope, and it is the clearest illustration of moving from maybe to done.