The question of whether attorney-client privilege should apply to disputes between trustees and a trust's beneficiaries will remain unanswered for now after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania split evenly on the issue.

In a ruling issued Wednesday, the high court failed to come to a consensus in the case, captioned In re Estate of McAleer, which involves a discovery dispute over legal bills. With Chief Justice Max Baer not participating, the remaining justices split 3-3 on the substantive question of whether attorney-client privilege should apply to fiduciaries and allow a trustee who racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to heavily redact those records.