[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/what-are-attorneys-obligations-after-you-die-white-plains-ny-new-york-ny\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/what-are-attorneys-obligations-after-you-die-white-plains-ny-new-york-ny\/","headline":"What are Attorney\u2019s Obligations after You Die?","name":"What are Attorney\u2019s Obligations after You Die?","description":"\u201cAttorney-client privilege requires that attorneys keep confidential and refrain from sharing all secrets and other confidences of clients.\u201d One of the hardest parts of an estate planning attorney\u2019s jobs is managing the death of a client. Estate planning attorneys are highly skilled at creating plans, while clients are living and at administering the plans after […]","datePublished":"2020-11-01","dateModified":"2023-09-21","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/author\/amorusolaw\/#Person","name":"Amoruso & Amoruso LLP","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/author\/amorusolaw\/","identifier":5,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12de032c04195e9c39a06a6d6eea182f7b4fa655c20e245f8094a244b5cdd0cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/12de032c04195e9c39a06a6d6eea182f7b4fa655c20e245f8094a244b5cdd0cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Amoruso & Amoruso LLP","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/amoruso-logo.svg","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/amoruso-logo.svg","width":0,"height":0}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/6a01901dd0a082970b026bde9f4d0f.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/6a01901dd0a082970b026bde9f4d0f.jpg","height":600,"width":395},"url":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/what-are-attorneys-obligations-after-you-die-white-plains-ny-new-york-ny\/","about":["Elder Law","Estate Planning","Executor"],"wordCount":470,"keywords":["Elder Law","Estate Planning","Executor"],"articleBody":"\u201cAttorney-client privilege requires that attorneys keep confidential and refrain from sharing all secrets and other confidences of clients.\u201dOne of the hardest parts of an estate planning attorney\u2019s jobs is managing the death of a client. Estate planning attorneys are highly skilled at creating plans, while clients are living and at administering the plans after their client passes. However, most attorneys become friendly with their clients and they do grieve when clients pass.Attorneys can provide the best counsel to their clients when they are completely honest and upfront with them, explains the article “Attorney-client privilege after a client dies” from LimaOhio.com. While there are some things the attorney doesn\u2019t need to know\u2014like the client\u2019s neighbor\u2019s recent divorce\u2014the more information a client provides their attorney, the better the attorney can help the client and their family.To encourage a high degree of honesty, there are ethics rules that attorneys are required to follow, including the well-known doctrine of attorney-client privilege.The attorney-client privilege requires that attorneys keep any confidences and secrets from their clients to themselves. This includes sensitive topics about the clients which the attorney learns from someone other than their client. In other words, the attorney may not share any secrets from the client and about the client.The attorney-client privilege is designed to protect all aspects of the client\u2019s life, even those parts they may not be proud of.In some cases, the client\u2019s very identity needs to be kept confidential. If a client wishes to pass an asset on to another person but does not want that person to know who their benefactor was, that secret must not be revealed. If a client has won a multimillion-dollar lottery and wishes to remain private, the attorney is required to keep their identity secret.This attorney-client privilege also applies to the staff in the attorney\u2019s practice. Something shared with an attorney\u2019s paralegal or secretary must remain confidential just as something that was told directly to the attorney.To strengthen this privilege further, the attorney-client privilege survives the client\u2019s death. When a client passes, the attorney may not share those secrets.There are a few exceptions to the rule of the attorney-client privilege that survive a client\u2019s death. Attorneys may discuss their client\u2019s competency to sign documents. The executor of a deceased client\u2019s estate or the spouse of a deceased client has the right to waive this privilege. However, if the client\u2019s secret concerns their spouse or the executor, the attorney may not share that secret in order to allow the executor or spouse to waive that privilege.Reference: LimaOhio.com (Oct. 3, 2020) “Attorney-client privilege after a client dies”For more information on asset preservation and estate planning, please visit my estate planning website."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What are Attorney\u2019s Obligations after You Die?","item":"https:\/\/www.amorusolaw.com\/blog\/what-are-attorneys-obligations-after-you-die-white-plains-ny-new-york-ny\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]