Do you want to include in the definition of grandchildren a grandchild who is conceived and born after the death of their genetic parent? Let me give you a couple of hypotheticals. What if your son is in the military and before going into combat, he has frozen sperm. He has discussed with his wife that he wants her to have his child even if he doesn’t make it back from combat. Do you want to include that child in the definition of grandchildren?

Another hypothetical: What if your daughter has her eggs stored and dies suddenly. She and her husband have agreed that they don’t want to raise their son as an only child. Her husband through a surrogate mother has another child. Do you want to include that child in the definition of grandchildren?

Just when you thought the question was complicated enough, what if they get divorced and his ex-spouse uses the frozen genetic material to have a child. Do you want that grandchild included?

Another issue is what about grandchildren who are created using your child’s genetic material outside of a marriage relationship. What if your child never intended for that grandchild to be born?

Unless you want to ignore the possibility of having grandchildren as the result of assisted reproductive technology (ART), or you want to let your state legislature handle the matter on your behalf, it is necessary to include at least some definitions of who you consider to be your grandchildren and eligible for benefits and inheritance. The most basic provision that addresses ART descendants should define when a parent-child relationship exists between a person and a child created with that person’s sperm or eggs. The provisions can limit descendents to those born between a man and a woman in a traditional marriage or expand to genetic children born of a single parent.

As medical technology continues to advance, it becomes more and more likely that your descendents will engage in some form of ART to help them conceive or prepare for future conception. Whether or not you consider children conceived by ART to be your descendents is your personal choice, it should be reflected in your estate plan, no matter how limiting or expansive you want your definition of “descendent” to be. It’s best to make your desires and wishes absolutely clear instead of leaving it up to the government to rule on what they consider to be a legal descendent or not, which can also avoid confusion and potential court costs later down the line.