“I want to live and live longer and I think that in the future they may find a cure for my cancer and wake me up,” a 14-year-old British girl wrote to a judge before her recent death. She said “being cryopreserved gives me a chance to be cured and woken up–even in hundreds of years’ time.” The girl, whose name has not been released for legal reasons won a High Court case, granting her the right to freeze her body after she passed away recently from a rare form of cancer.

Judge Peter Jackson, the presiding judge in the case who specializes in the Family Division of Britain’s High Court, said the case represents a new precedent in the confrontation of science and law. “It is no surprise that this application is the only one of its kind to have come before the courts in this country–and probably anywhere else,” he said. Jackson added that the case is “an example of the new questions that science poses to the law.”

Jackson said his decision was not based on affirming the sound science of cryopreservation–there is not any–but rather on settling a family dispute. The girl’s mother supported her wish to freeze her body, but her father, initially at least, did not. The girl’s parents are divorced, and her father also has cancer. His views eventually shifted. “This is the last and only thing she has asked from me,” he told the judge. The procedure will cost the family 37,000 pounds, which is equivalent to $46,000.

Cryonics, which is an extreme type of cryopreservation, where the entire body is frozen with the hope that it will be re-animated at some point in the future once technology has advanced far enough to cure currently incurable diseases, like cancer. There is no evidence that the procedure could be successful, scientists say, though some still hold out hope.

The girl, whose remains were shipped to the U.S. to undergo the cryopreservation treatment, learned of the judge’s decision 11 days before she passed away, according to her lawyer Zoe Fleetwood. “It brought her great comfort,” Fleetwood told the Associated Press. “She saw this as a chance to be brought back at some stage in the future, but she knew it was speculative.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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It’s always sad to see families fight over a deceased loved one’s belongings, but that appears to be what’s happening with Robin William’s widow and children over the late comedian’s estate right now.

According to papers filed in December in a San Francisco Superior Court, William’s third wife, Susan Schneider Williams, claims some of her late husband’s personal belongings, including jewelry and memorabilia, were taken from the Tiburon, California home they shared without her permission. She’s blaming his children.

Robin Williams’ children and wife have gone to court in a fight over his estate http://t.co/v2VlNGoTXA pic.twitter.com/KvS5St1Df6

— NBC Los Angeles (@NBCLA) February 3, 2015

The 63-year-old actor committed suicide in August in that very home.

Photo of Robin Williams with his ex wife and three children Zach, Zelda and Cody Courtesy of Hot Gossip Italia via Flickr.

Zach, Zelda, and Cody Williams, Robin’s children from previous marriages that ended in divorce,  countered Susan’s claims stating her petition only adds “insult to a terrible injury” and is an attempt to alter Robin’s wishes to “prevent them from receiving what their father wanted them to receive”.

Robin and Susan’s marriage was, sadly, a short one. The couple married in October 2011, making her a relatively new addition to the close knit family. In Robin’s pre-marriage will from January 31, 2011, he left his $50 million estate in a trust for his three children. The trust also granted his children his memorabilia and awards in the entertainment industry and some other specific personal items.

According to the New York Times, the trust was updated in recent years to better accommodate Susan, who signed a prenuptial agreement prior to her marriage with Robin. In the updated will, Susan was bequeathed her own trust which allots her possession of the Tiburon home and “the contents thereof,” subject to certain restrictions. She would also be given enough spending money to essentially cover her for life and maintain the property. While this certainly doesn’t sound like the short end of the stick, Susan still isn’t happy.

Susan says that because Robin wanted her to continue living at the Tiburon home, it makes sense that he intended for his children to only have the specific personal items he delineated in the trust that were kept at another home in Napa.

The debate between the two parties boils down to a disagreement over the definition of terms laid out in his estate–essentially, what qualifies as memorabilia. His children are entitled to all items associated with Robin’s career, such as the suspenders he wore on his hit show “Mork & Mindy,” while Susan is entitled to other items not associated with his famous persona, like the tuxedo he wore at their wedding and personal knickknacks.

According to his children, Susan’s interpretation of what qualifies as knickknacks is far from the mark. They consider some of  these items to be part of sentimental collections that they’re entitled to. In their response they elaborate, stating:

These collections were carefully amassed by Mr. Williams over his lifetime and were precious to him. As the Williams children grew, so did their father’s collections and they shared in their father’s excitement as additions were made to his collection.

Both parties are hoping to settle the matter quickly and efficiently, leaving no room for further disputes. Hopefully they’re able to do so before any mud starts slinging, but it’s clear that they are all still mourning the sudden death of the legendary funny man.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.

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