# Privileged Communication: Definition and Exceptions

## What Is Privileged Communication?

Privileged communication is a legal concept that ensures confidentiality between parties in certain relationships, such as attorney-client or doctor-patient. These interactions, recognized by law, remain confidential unless exceptions apply. Legal limitations can also restrict disclosure by the parties involved.

Key relationships where privileged communication is applicable include attorney-client, doctor-patient, and priest-parishioner. Understanding how these protections work and their exceptions is crucial for maintaining confidentiality in your professional interactions.

### Key Takeaways

*   Privileged communication is a legally protected interaction that maintains confidentiality between specified parties.
*   Attorney-client, doctor-patient, and priest-parishioner are common relationships where privileged communication is recognized.
*   Privileged communication can be waived if the information is shared with an unauthorized third party.
*   The protection does not apply in cases involving harm or threat of harm to people.

## Understanding the Mechanics of Privileged Communication

In addition to attorney-client privilege and conversations with medical professionals and religious officials, privileged communications include those between two spouses, accountant, and client, and, in some states, reporters and their sources.

In professional relationships, the client, patient, or penitent holds the right to communication protection. The information recipient must keep communication private unless the discloser waives the privilege. If the recipient of the information fails to keep the information private, in many instances they can lose their operating license.

Key spousal privilege rules prevent courts from forcing spouses to disclose confidential communications or testify against each other. These rights, lasting even after divorce, protect the honesty and confidentiality of marriage. However, these protections don't stop a spouse from choosing to testify against the other in court.

## Important Exceptions to Privileged Communication

For communication to remain confidential under privilege, it must occur in a private setting, like a meeting room, where others can't overhear.

Privilege ends if the communication is shared with a [third party](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/third-party.asp) outside the protected relationship. However, a person who is an agent of the recipient of the information—an accountant's secretary, say, or a doctor's nurse—is generally not considered to be a third party who jeopardizes the privileged status of the communication.

It is important to keep in mind that there are situations where privileged communications stops being private. For example, if there have been disclosures of harm to people, or the threat of harm to people in the future. Communications with medical professionals are not protected when the professional has reason to believe the patient may bring harm to themselves or others.

The lack of protection typically extends to suspected abuse of children or other vulnerable people, such as the elderly or disabled. Even between spouses, privileged communication typically does not apply in cases involving the harm, or the threat of harm, to a spouse or children in the couple's care, or to crimes jointly committed with the other spouse.

## The Bottom Line

Privileged communication safeguards the confidentiality of exchanges between two parties within specific relationships recognized by law, such as attorney-client, doctor-patient, and priest-parishioner. This protection is critical for maintaining trust and honesty in these relationships.

However, it is important to understand that this privilege is not absolute; exceptions occur, particularly when harm or the threat of harm arises. Additionally, involving third parties may nullify the confidential status. Understanding these dynamics ensures informed interactions within legally protected relationships.