S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7601
 
                        2019-2020 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               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  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
 
  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  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
 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.