Tennessee: Limits on Estate Planning Attorney’s Authority to Disclose Will
In recent Formal Ethics Opinion 2014-F-158, the Board of Professional Responsibility for the Supreme Court of Tennessee addressed the following interesting question:
“Can a lawyer who represented a testator refuse to honor a court order or subpoena to disclose, prior to the client’s death, a Will or other testamenatry document executed when the testator was competent on the basis that the document is protected against disclosure by the attorney-client privilege or confidentiality.”
The Board’s opinion indicates that not only “may” the lawyer refuse to disclose the will, but where circumstances indicate the client is no longer able to give informed consent because of intervening dementia, the lawyer may have a duty to raise all “nonfrivolous grounds” to protect the will from disclosure, including privileges under Tennessee statutes, citing Rule of Professional Conduct 1.6(c)(2).
In opening its analysis, the Board noted that it has become “increasingly common for courts to appoint attorneys in a representative capacity to represent individuals suffering from dementia and/or Alzheimer’s who are the subject of a dispute or litigation regarding management of the individual’s funds and/or person.” During the course of the dispute, parties may attempt to seek review of the will prior to the death of the testator, citing reasons such as the need to “engage in estate planning.”
The Board acknowledged the potential for facts that would permit the lawyer to disclose the contents of the disabled client’s will, such as when a “lawyer believes the disclosure of the contents … would be in furtherance of client’s interest.”
In commentary on the Tennessee Board Ethics Opinion, the ABA/BNA Manual on Professsional Conduct, in Vol. 30, No. 15, observed that “a 2010 law review article cites demographic patterns that have increased the likelihood of such scenarios,” pointing to “A Common Thread to Weave a Patchwork: Advocating for Testatmentary Exception Rules,” 3 Phoenix L. Rev. 729, 734-35 (2010) by then law student Andrew B. Mazoff, now an attorney in Phoenix.
Thanks to my colleague and ethics guru, Laurel Terry, for sharing this ethics opinion.