To whom may a Vermont lawyer deliver a deceased client's file when the executrix requests it?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1995. Ask about yours and see what the current Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A lawyer had prepared a deed executed by a hospitalized husband and, for the opinion, was assumed to represent him. After his death, his wife became the estate's executrix. She asked for the lawyer's file and asked that the lawyer not tell their son about the request.
The committee said the lawyer had to turn over the deceased client's papers and property to the wife as executrix or to her attorney, and identified no ethical duty to provide them to another person. It relied on the distinction between a fiduciary client and beneficiaries discussed in ABA Formal Opinion 94-380, and on Vermont Opinion 91-3's categories of client property and work product that must be returned.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1995 under Vermont's former Code of Professional Responsibility. The Vermont Supreme Court's rules history states that the Rules of Professional Conduct applied to lawyer conduct after September 1, 1999. Later amendments or opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this opinion as historical context and verify current rules before relying on it.
Common questions
Q: Could the executrix request the deceased client's papers?
A: Yes. The committee said the lawyer was bound to turn over the papers and property to her or her lawyer on request.
Q: Did the opinion require delivery to the son?
A: No. It identified no ethical duty to deliver the client's papers or property to anyone other than the executrix or her attorney on these facts.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applied ABA Formal Opinion 94-380's discussion of a lawyer's duties to a fiduciary client and cited Vermont Opinion 91-3 on returning client papers and property.
Citations and references
Other opinions cited:
- ABA Formal Opinion 94-380
- Vermont Opinion 91-3
See also
Source
- Landing page: Vermont Bar Association client-property opinions
- Original PDF: Opinion 95-05
- Vermont Supreme Court rules history, “These rules apply to lawyer conduct after September 1, 1999.”
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