A husband or wife shall not be required, or, without consent of the other if living, allowed, to disclose a confidential communication made by one to the other during marriage, pursuant to CPLR 4502[b]. While not all spousal communications are privileged, confidential communications induced by the marital relation and prompted by the affection, confidence, and loyalty engendered by the relationship are. In making this determination, spousal communications are presumed to have been conducted under the mantle of confidentiality, and the burden is on the party seeking to overcome the privilege to demonstrate that the communications were not made in confidence.
There is neither a legal nor a practical basis for finding that one spouse's discussion of what is happening at work would automatically destroy the spousal privilege. Indeed, many conversations about business matters are only had because of the husband-wife relationship.
Smartmatic USA Corp. v. Fox Corp., NY Slip Op 02882 (1st Dep't May 23, 2024)
