As artificial intelligence reshapes the landscape of personal legacy, RIAs and estate planning professionals are seeing an emerging opportunity: the integration of AI-generated voice models into client estate plans.
This evolving application allows individuals to preserve and share their voice with future generations—offering a new dimension to how we think about legacy, memory, and emotional connection in the planning process.
From Tangible Assets to Emotional Heirlooms
Estate planning has traditionally centered around the orderly transfer of tangible assets—real estate, investment portfolios, retirement accounts, and personal property—as well as core legal instruments like wills and trusts. But with the rise of digital assets and emotionally resonant tools, clients are increasingly seeking to include elements that preserve their identity and values, not just their net worth.
Voice is particularly powerful in this regard. Unlike photos or written documents, the human voice conveys tone, inflection, and personality—often triggering deeper emotional responses in loved ones. The ability to hear a parent offer advice or share a story in their own voice—even years after their passing—can provide comfort and connection that traditional assets cannot match.
How AI Voice Preservation Works
Startups specializing in voice cloning—such as Eternos and other emerging platforms—use advanced machine learning models to create lifelike digital replicas of an individual’s voice. The process generally includes:
Voice Sampling: The individual records a series of scripted lines that capture a broad range of vocal nuances and inflections.
Model Development: The company uses AI to analyze the speech patterns and build a personalized, responsive voice model.
Content Input: Clients can submit stories, messages, advice, or specific content they want delivered in their digital voice.
Interactive Features: Some platforms allow for limited interactive responses based on stored memories or approved data sets.
Security and consent protocols are a critical part of this process, ensuring that the voice models are accessible only under terms clearly outlined by the individual during life.
Use Cases in Estate Planning
RIAs and estate attorneys are beginning to introduce AI voice integration as part of broader legacy planning conversations. Clients are deploying this technology in a range of thoughtful, emotionally meaningful ways:
Personal Messages: Delivering birthday greetings, marriage advice, or expressions of love to children and grandchildren.
Family Storytelling: Capturing oral histories, cultural traditions, or recipes in the individual’s voice to pass down through generations.
Guidance on Values: Leaving reflective messages about personal ethics, family expectations, or philanthropic goals.
Comfort at Death: Providing a final message of love and reassurance to help heirs process grief and maintain emotional connection.
For clients who value control over how their memory is preserved, AI voice modeling provides a customizable, enduring form of legacy transmission—one that can be secured and governed through estate documents.
Legal and Ethical Considerations
Before including AI-generated voice models in an estate plan, advisors and attorneys should help clients navigate several important issues:
Documented Consent: Individuals must clearly express how their voice model may be used—who may access it, under what circumstances, and with what limitations.
Family Sensitivities: Not every beneficiary may want to interact with a digital recreation of a loved one. Planners should help clients assess emotional readiness and offer opt-in mechanisms for heirs.
Long-Term Storage and Access: Like any digital asset, a voice model needs a durable and secure storage solution—potentially managed through a trust or digital asset custodian to ensure long-term access and protection.
Ownership Rights: Similar to intellectual property, it’s vital to determine who has legal control over the digital voice and under what terms, particularly to avoid unintended commercial or unauthorized use.
Not Just for Celebrities
While high-profile cases like James Earl Jones granting Lucasfilm rights to use his voice posthumously may seem like one-offs, the underlying concept is increasingly accessible to the general public. The cost and complexity of AI voice cloning are falling rapidly, making it a viable tool for affluent families who want to capture and transmit emotional legacy along with financial assets.
Why RIAs Should Lead the Conversation
As trusted fiduciaries, RIAs are in a unique position to broaden the estate planning conversation to include digital and emotional elements of legacy. Incorporating AI voice cloning can:
Differentiate your advisory offering by aligning emotional and financial planning.
Deepen multi-generational relationships by providing tools that resonate with both clients and their heirs.
Reinforce the advisor’s value proposition as a long-term guide not just for wealth, but for meaning and continuity.
Moreover, introducing these conversations early can help prevent rushed decisions later. For example, a client diagnosed with a degenerative illness might benefit significantly from capturing their voice while still cognitively and physically able to do so.
Coordinating With Legal and Tax Professionals
Integrating AI voice models into an estate plan should be done in consultation with legal counsel. Advisors should encourage clients to:
Update wills or revocable trusts to reference and control digital voice models explicitly.
Use a digital asset memorandum or letter of instruction to detail use, access rights, and limitations on the AI-generated content.
Coordinate with their estate planning attorney to ensure these elements align with broader planning documents such as durable powers of attorney and advance healthcare directives.
Legacy Beyond Dollars
At its core, estate planning is about preserving the values, intent, and influence of the individual—not just their assets. AI voice cloning is simply the latest tool to help clients express who they are and what they want to leave behind. As digital legacies become a more accepted part of the estate planning process, wealth advisors who embrace this trend will be well positioned to support clients in building more meaningful, human-centered plans.
By helping clients combine traditional estate planning with innovative technologies, RIAs can ensure that their clients’ voices—literally and figuratively—continue to resonate long after they’re gone.
