What's happening
This bill clarifies attorney-client privilege rules for personal representatives and extends them to lifetime trustees in New York.
Why it matters
Reduces uncertainty for estate beneficiaries and trustees. by making clear that beneficiaries are not automatically considered clients of the estate’s attorney, which helps prevent confusion or disputes about who holds the attorney-client privilege.
Protects confidential communications. between attorneys and lifetime trustees, not just executors or administrators, meaning advice given to trustees during a person’s life remains protected even after their death.
Prevents accidental waiver of privilege. by specifying that simply stating a trustee or representative "relied on attorney's advice" does not automatically open up those communications to discovery in legal proceedings.
Modernizes and aligns trust law with current estate practice. by ensuring that lifetime trustees (who often manage living trusts as part of contemporary estate planning) have the same privilege protections as traditional estate representatives, making legal standards more consistent and predictable.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Expand Attorney-Client Privilege Protections
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Substituted by S6409
- Ordered to third reading rules cal.510
- Rules report cal.510
- Reported
- Reported referred to rules
- Referred to judiciary
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Extend Attorney-Client Privilege
Signed by Governor · Sponsor Jim Gaughran
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
7601
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
May 13, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- (at request of the Office of Court Administration) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to the privilege between a personal representative and the attorney to lifetime trustees
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph 2 of subdivision (a) of section 4503 of the civil practice law and rules, as added by chapter 430 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
2. Personal representatives. (A) For purposes of the attorney-client privilege, if the client is a personal representative and the attorney represents the personal representative in that capacity, in the absence of an agreement between the attorney and the personal representative to the contrary:
(i) No beneficiary of the estate is, or shall be treated as, the client of the attorney solely by reason of his or her status as beneficiary; [and]
(ii) The existence of a fiduciary relationship between the personal representative and a beneficiary of the estate does not by itself constitute or give rise to any waiver of the privilege for confidential communications made in the course of professional employment between the attorney or his or her employee and the personal representative who is the client; and
(iii) The fiduciary's testimony that he or she has relied on the attorney's advice shall not by itself constitute such a waiver.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, "personal representative" shall mean (i) the administrator, administrator c.t.a., ancillary administrator, executor, preliminary executor, temporary administrator, lifetime trustee or trustee to whom letters have been issued within the meaning
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11643-01-9
A. 7601 2
of subdivision thirty-four of section one hundred three of the surrogate's court procedure act, and (ii) the guardian of an incapacitated communicant if and to the extent that the order appointing such guardian under subdivision (c) of section 81.16 of the mental hygiene law or any subsequent order of any court expressly provides that the guardian is to be the personal representative of the incapacitated communicant for purposes of this section; "beneficiary" shall have the meaning set forth in subdivision eight of section one hundred three of the surrogate's court procedure act and "estate" shall have the meaning set forth in subdivision nineteen of section one hundred three of the surrogate's court procedure act.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.