S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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9000
I N A S S E M B L Y
January 10, 2018
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Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ -- (at request of the Office of Court
Administration) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judici-
ary
AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, in relation to the
privilege between a personal representative and the attorney to life-
time trustees
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, 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 benefi-
ciary; [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 administra-
tor, executor, preliminary executor, temporary administrator, LIFETIME
TRUSTEE or trustee to whom letters have been issued within the meaning
of subdivision thirty-four of section one hundred three of the surro-
gate's court procedure act, and (ii) the guardian of an incapacitated
communicant if and to the extent that the order appointing such guardian
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10267-01-7
A. 9000 2
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.