Section 5-1505. Standard of care; fiduciary duty; 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 duty. (a) An agent acting under a power of attorney has a
  fiduciary duty to the principal. The fiduciary duty includes 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 a statutory major  gifts
  rider  or  in  a non-statutory power of attorney signed and dated by the
  principal with the signature of the principal duly acknowledged  in  the
  manner  prescribed  for  the  acknowledgment  of  a  conveyance  of real
  property,  and  which  is  executed  pursuant  to  the  requirements  of
  paragraph  (b)  of subdivision nine of section 5-1514 of this title. The
  agent may not transfer the principal's property to  himself  or  herself
  without specific authorization.
    (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 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. Such proceeding  shall  be  the  exclusive
  remedy to compel the agent to provide such record.
    (b)  The  agent  may  be subject to liability for conduct or omissions
  which violate the 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.