On July 18th 2018, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NY DFS) issued a Best Interest Rule for life insurance (Regulation 187).  This new Rule re-defines the meaning of “clients’ best interests” for product recommendations to be more consistent with other fiduciary rules, requiring life insurance producers to "act in the best interests of the consumer … based on an evaluation of relevant suitability information … and the care, skill, prudence, and diligence [of] a prudent person … considering only the interests of the consumer in making recommendations… [and] prominently disclos[ing] in writing limit[ations in] the range of policies recommended."  Previously, due diligence for life insurance product recommendations was governed by the National Association of Insurance Commissions (NAIC) Life Insurance Illustrations Model Regulation #582.  Given the predominant use of illustration comparisons as supposed due diligence, the questionable use of illustration comparisons as decision-support for product recommendations, the growing legislative and regulatory activity around re defining clients’ best interests for life insurance product recommendations, and NY DFS’s standing as a “bellwether” for important insurance regulation, the NY Best Interest Rule for life insurance poses significant ethical implications for estate planning professionals who serve fiduciaries and/or work under a fiduciary definition of “clients’ best interests" both in and outside New York.