Confidential Relation

Confidential Relation

Any connection between two individuals in which one of the parties has an obligation to act with extreme Good Faith for the benefit of the other party.

Confidential relations, also known as fiduciary relations, are not confined to any specific relationships but refer to all those that are founded upon secrecy and trust. The duty of secrecy in such a relation is intended to prevent undue advantage that might stem from the unlimited confidence that one party places in the other. A confidential relation need not be a legal one, but rather may be moral, domestic, social, or personal. Kinship alone, however, is insufficient to give rise to a confidential relation.

Common examples of confidential relationships, which give rise to confidential communications, include attorney and client, Husband and Wife, and physician and patient.

confidential relation

n. a relationship in which one person has confidence in and relies on another because of some combination of a history of trust, older age, family connection, and/or superior training and knowledge, to a point where the party relied upon dominates the situation, for good or bad. While it may include attorney and client, stockbroker and customer, real estate agent and buyer, a senior family member and an unsophisticated relative, the relationship is defined on a case-by-case basis, with reliance and dominance the key factors. In this situation, the trusting party does not have to be as vigilant or suspicious as with strangers or people who are not relied upon. The time clock (statute of limitations) to bring a lawsuit against a crook who is in a confidential relationship may not start to run until the misdeeds become extremely obvious. (See: fiduciary)