On June 18, 2026, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously advanced the NO FAKES Act (S.4591) — a bipartisan bill that gives every American, not just celebrities, a federal property right to control AI-generated replicas of their voice and likeness for up to 70 years after death. That right transfers to heirs, who can license it, restrict it, or let it lapse. What the law cannot do is tell anyone what the person actually wanted.

That gap is the problem.

A Federal Right With No Instructions Inside

For most of legal history, posthumous personality rights belonged to celebrities and their estates. State laws were a patchwork — Washington enacted a $3,000-per-violation penalty for forged digital likenesses effective June 2026, but it applied narrowly and left ordinary families without a clear framework. The NO FAKES Act changes that math entirely. When it passes, a grandmother in Tulsa will hold the same federal right over her AI likeness as a recording artist in Los Angeles.

But the right is only as useful as the instructions attached to it.

Heirs who inherit a posthumous likeness right must make decisions: Can an AI replica of Mom speak at a grandchild's wedding? Can her voice be used in a memorial video? Can a grief-tech company license her likeness for a digital companion? The NO FAKES Act creates the legal vessel. It does not fill it.

According to the Trust & Will 2026 Estate Planning Report — a survey of 5,000 Americans conducted January 28 through February 5, 2026 — 48% of Americans have no instructions for their digital accounts after death. That was before a federal likeness right existed. The number of people who have recorded any guidance about their AI voice or digital identity is almost certainly smaller still.

Who Speaks for You After You Die?

This was once a question only estates with large commercial value had to answer. Michael Jackson's estate has litigated it. Robin Williams' will addressed it explicitly. But the NO FAKES Act makes it a question for everyone — the retired teacher, the small-business owner, the parent who has never thought of their voice as a licensable asset.

The same Trust & Will 2026 report found that 41% of Americans say memories and relationships are the most meaningful part of any legacy — outranking financial assets (22%) and property (22%) by a wide margin. People already know, intuitively, that what they leave behind in human terms matters more than what they leave behind in financial terms. The law is now catching up to that intuition by treating a person's voice and likeness as property worth protecting.

That creates an obligation. If your voice is now a federal property right, and your heirs will be the ones deciding how — or whether — it is used, then the most loving thing you can do is tell them what you want while you can still say it yourself.

The Consent Gap the Law Cannot Close

The NO FAKES Act requires that AI replicas be created only with the subject's consent, or with the estate's authorization after death. But consent to be replicated is not the same as instruction about how to be replicated — what to say, what never to say, what context feels right, what would feel like a violation of who you were.

A legal right without a human record behind it is a blank check handed to grieving people at the worst possible moment.

This is precisely the gap that Eterna Legacy was built to close. Presence Insurance™ is the practice of recording what you actually want said — in your own voice, in your own words — before those words are gone. Not a legal document. Not a permissions form. A voice message to your daughter. A video for a grandchild who hasn't been born yet. A note that says: this is what I would want, and this is what I would never want.

When the NO FAKES Act passes into law, heirs will hold a 70-year federal right. What they will not automatically hold is the knowledge of what to do with it. Eterna Legacy gives the person themselves the chance to answer that question first.

Start Now, While the Words Are Still Yours

The NO FAKES Act is moving through Congress with bipartisan support and unanimous committee approval — a rarity in the current legislative environment. It will likely become law. When it does, every American's voice and likeness will become a posthumous federal property right, administered by heirs who may have no idea what you wanted.

The most important estate planning document you can create right now is not a will. It is a record of your own voice, saying what matters to you, before the law hands that question to someone else.

Start your vault today →

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FAQ

What is the NO FAKES Act and what does it do for ordinary Americans? The NO FAKES Act (S.4591), advanced unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 18, 2026, creates a federal property right for every American — not just public figures — to control AI-generated replicas of their voice and likeness. That right transfers to heirs for up to 70 years after death and can be licensed, restricted, or renewed only with proof of active authorized public use.

Can my family create an AI version of me after I die under the NO FAKES Act? Yes, with authorization from your estate. The bill requires consent — either yours before death or your estate's after. But the law does not specify what you would have wanted said or how you would want your voice and likeness used. That guidance has to come from you, recorded while you are alive.

What is Presence Insurance and how does it relate to posthumous likeness rights? Presence Insurance™ is the practice, offered through Eterna Legacy, of recording your own voice, video, and written messages for your heirs before you die. When a federal posthumous likeness right takes effect, those recordings become the documented human instruction behind the legal right — they tell your family what you actually wanted, rather than leaving them to decide alone.

Does a will cover my AI likeness rights? Standard wills address financial assets and property. Very few include guidance about digital identity, voice recordings, or AI likeness — and even those that do rarely include the recorded instructions themselves. The NO FAKES Act creates a new category of inheritable right that most existing estate plans do not address.

How long do posthumous likeness rights last under the NO FAKES Act? The bill provides for up to 70 years of posthumous protection, renewable only upon proof of active and authorized public use of the likeness. This is a significantly longer window than most state-level personality rights statutes currently provide.