§ 5-1505. Standard of care; fiduciary duties; compelling disclosure of
record. 1. Standard of care. In dealing with property of the principal,
an agent shall observe the standard of care that would be observed by a
prudent person dealing with property of another.

2. Fiduciary duties. (a) An agent acting under a power of attorney has
a fiduciary relationship with the principal. The fiduciary duties
include but are not limited to each of the following obligations:

(1) To act according to any instructions from the principal or, where
there are no instructions, in the best interest of the principal, and to
avoid conflicts of interest.

(2) To keep the principal's property separate and distinct from any
other property owned or controlled by the agent, except for property
that is jointly owned by the principal and agent at the time of the
execution of the power of attorney, and property that becomes jointly
owned after the execution of the power of attorney as the result of the
agent's acquisition of an interest in the principal's property by reason
of the agent's exercise of authority granted in the modifications
section of a statutory short form power of attorney or in a
non-statutory power of attorney. The agent may not make gifts of the
principal's property to himself or herself without specific
authorization in a power of attorney.

(3) To keep a record of all receipts, disbursements, and transactions
entered into by the agent on behalf of the principal and to make such
record and power of attorney available to the principal or to third
parties at the request of the principal. The agent shall make such
record and a copy of the power of attorney available within fifteen days
of a written request by any of the following:

(i) a monitor;

(ii) a co-agent or successor agent acting under the power of attorney;

(iii) a government entity, or official thereof, investigating a report
that the principal may be in need of protective or other services, or
investigating a report of abuse or neglect;

(iv) a court evaluator appointed pursuant to section 81.09 of the
mental hygiene law;

(v) a guardian ad litem appointed pursuant to section seventeen
hundred fifty-four of the surrogate's court procedure act;

(vi) the guardian or conservator of the estate of the principal, if
such record has not already been provided to the court evaluator or
guardian ad litem; or

(vii) the personal representative of the estate of a deceased
principal if such record has not already been provided to the guardian
or conservator of the estate of the principal.

The failure of the agent to make the record available pursuant to this
paragraph may result in a special proceeding under subdivision one of
section 5-1510 of this title.

(b) The agent may be subject to liability for conduct or omissions
which violate any fiduciary duty.

(c) The agent is not liable to third parties for any act pursuant to a
power of attorney if the act was authorized at the time and the act did
not violate subdivision one or two of this section.

3. Resignation. (a) An agent who has signed the power of attorney may
resign by giving written notice to the principal and the agent's
co-agent, successor agent or the monitor, if one has been named, or the
principal's guardian if one has been appointed. If no co-agent,
successor agent, monitor or guardian is known to the agent and the
principal is incapacitated or the agent has notice of any facts
indicating the principal's incapacity, the agent may give written notice
to a government entity having authority to protect the welfare of the
principal, or may petition the court to approve the resignation.

(b) The principal may provide for alternative means for an agent's
resignation in the power of attorney.