Sec. 5215.

A minor's guardian has the powers and responsibilities of a parent who is not deprived of custody of the parent's minor and unemancipated child, except that a guardian is not legally obligated to provide for the ward from the guardian's own money and is not liable to third persons by reason of the parental relationship for the ward's acts. A guardian has all of the following powers and duties:

• (a) The guardian shall take reasonable care of a ward's personal effects and commence a protective proceeding if necessary to protect the ward's other property.
• (b) The guardian may receive money payable for the ward's support to the ward's parent, guardian, or custodian under the terms of a statutory benefit or insurance system, or a private contract, devise, trust, conservatorship, or custodianship. The guardian may receive the ward's money or property paid or delivered under section 5102. Money or property received under that section shall be applied to the ward's current needs for support, care, and education. The guardian shall exercise due care to conserve any excess for the ward's future needs unless a conservator is appointed for the ward's estate, in which case the excess shall be paid over at least annually to the conservator. The guardian shall not use that money or property for compensation for the guardian's services except as approved by court order or as determined by a duly appointed conservator other than the guardian. A guardian may institute a proceeding to compel a person's performance of a duty to support the ward or to pay money for the ward's welfare.
• (c) The guardian shall facilitate the ward's education and social or other activities, and shall authorize medical or other professional care, treatment, or advice. A guardian is not liable by reason of this consent for injury to the ward resulting from the negligence or acts of third persons unless it would be illegal for a parent to have consented.
• (d) A guardian may consent to a minor ward's marriage.
• (e) Subject to the conditions and restrictions of chapter X of 1939 PA 288, MCL 710.21 to 710.70, a guardian may consent to marriage or adoption of a minor ward or to the release of a minor ward for adoption.
• (f) A guardian must report the condition of the ward and of the ward's estate that is subject to the guardian's possession or control as ordered by the court on petition of a person interested in the minor's welfare or as required by court rule. The report must detail the condition of the ward, medical or mental health treatment or care to which the ward was subjected, and what reason, if any, exists for the continuation of the guardianship.
• (g) Within 14 days after a change in the ward's place of residence, the guardian shall give to the court notice of the ward's new address.

Sec. 5216.

1. A guardian is entitled to reasonable compensation for services as guardian and to reimbursement for room, board, and clothing personally provided to the ward, but only as approved by court order.
2. If a minor dies while under guardianship and a conservator has not been appointed for the minor's estate and if the guardian has possession of any money of the deceased minor, upon petition of the guardian and with or without notice, the court may hear a claim for burial expenses or another claim as the court considers advisable. Upon hearing the claim, the court may enter an order allowing or disallowing the claim or a part of it and may provide in an order of allowance that the claim or a part of it be paid immediately if the payment can be made without injury or serious inconvenience to the minor's estate.

Sec. 5217.

A guardian's authority and responsibility terminate upon the guardian's death, resignation, or removal or upon the minor's death, adoption, marriage, or attainment of majority. However, a termination does not affect the guardian's liability for prior acts or the obligation to account for the ward's money and property. The guardian's resignation does not terminate the guardianship until it is approved by the court. A parental appointment under an informally probated will terminates if the will is later denied probate in a formal proceeding.

Sec. 5410.

The court may require a conservator to furnish a bond conditioned upon faithful discharge of all duties of the trust according to law, with sureties as the court specifies. Unless otherwise directed, the bond shall be in the amount of the aggregate capital value of the estate property in the conservator's control plus 1 year's estimated income minus the value of securities deposited under arrangements requiring a court order for their removal and the value of land that the fiduciary, by express limitation of power, lacks power to sell or convey without court authorization. Instead of sureties on a bond, the court may accept other security for the performance of the bond, including a pledge of securities or a mortgage of land.

Sec. 5412.

1. Before receiving letters, a conservator must qualify by filing with the appointing court a required bond and a statement of acceptance of the duties of the office.
2. In filing the statement of acceptance, the conservator may exclude from the scope of the conservator's responsibility, for a period not exceeding 91 days, real estate or an ownership interest in a business entity if the conservator reasonably believes the real estate or property owned by the business entity is or may be contaminated by a hazardous substance, or is or has been used for an activity directly or indirectly involving a hazardous substance that could result in liability to the estate or otherwise impair the value of property held in the estate. The conservator shall identify the real estate or ownership interest being excluded and specify the time period of exclusion.
3. If the conservator identifies excluded property under subsection (2), the conservator's responsibilities extend to the excluded property at the end of the exclusion period or upon prior notice of acceptance of that property filed by the conservator with the court, unless, before the end of the exclusion period, the conservator requests the court to appoint a special conservator with respect to the excluded property or to exercise administrative authority over the excluded property by direct judicial order.
4. In response to a request by the general conservator under subsection (3), the court may do either of the following:
   • (a) Appoint a special conservator with the duty and authority to collect and manage the excluded property, but only to the extent necessary for proper settlement of the estate, to preserve the property, to account with respect to the property, and to distribute or otherwise dispose of the property as directed by the general conservator or other court order.
   • (b) Direct administration of the excluded property by judicial order without the appointment of a conservator with respect to the property.
5. By accepting appointment, a conservator submits personally to the court's jurisdiction in a proceeding relating to the estate that may be instituted by an interested person. Notice of a proceeding shall be delivered to the conservator or mailed by registered or certified mail to the address listed in the petition for appointment or as reported to the court after appointment and to the address as then known to the petitioner.

Sec. 5413.

If not otherwise compensated for services rendered, a visitor, guardian ad litem, attorney, physician, conservator, or special conservator appointed in a protective proceeding, is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate.

Sec. 5414.

The court may remove a conservator for good cause, upon notice and hearing, or accept a conservator's resignation. Upon the conservator's death, resignation, or removal, the court may appoint another conservator. A conservator so appointed succeeds to the title and powers of the predecessor.

Sec. 5415.

1. A person interested in the welfare of an individual for whom a conservator is appointed may file a petition in the appointing court for an order to do any of the following:
   • (a) Require bond or security or additional bond or security, or reduce bond.
   • (b) Require an accounting for the administration of the trust.
   • (c) Direct distribution.
   • (d) Remove the conservator and appoint a temporary or successor conservator.
   • (e) Grant other appropriate relief.
2. A conservator may petition the appointing court for instructions concerning fiduciary responsibility. Upon notice and hearing, the court may give appropriate instructions or make an appropriate order.

Sec. 5416.

In relation to powers conferred by this part or implicit in the title acquired by virtue of the proceeding, a conservator shall act as a fiduciary and observe the standard of care applicable to a trustee.

Sec. 5417.

1. Within 63 days after appointment or within another time period specified by court rule, a conservator must prepare and file with the appointing court a complete inventory of the estate subject to the conservatorship together with an oath or affirmation that the inventory is believed to be complete and accurate so far as information permits. The conservator must provide a copy of the inventory to the protected individual if the individaul can be located and if the individual is 14 years of age or older and has sufficient mental capacity to understand the arrangement. A copy must also be provided to a parent or guardian with whom the protected individual resides.
2. The conservator must keep suitable records of the administration and exhibit those records on the request of an interested person.

Sec. 5418.

A conservator shall account to the court for administration of the trust not less than annually unless the court directs otherwise, upon resignation or removal, and at other times as the court directs. On termination of the protected individual's minority or disability, a conservator shall account to the court or to the formerly protected individual or that individual's successors. Subject to appeal or vacation within the time permitted, an order, after notice and hearing, allowing an intermediate account of a conservator adjudicates as to liabilities concerning the matters considered in connection with the accounts, and an order, after notice and hearing, allowing a final account adjudicates as to all previously unsettled liabilities of the conservator to the protected individual or the protected individual's successors relating to the conservatorship. In connection with any account, the court may require a conservator to submit to a physical check of the estate to be made in any manner the court specifies.

Sec. 5419.

1. Appointment of a conservator vests in the conservator title as trustee to all of the protected individual's property, or to the part of that property specified in the order, held at the time of or acquired after the order, including title to property held for the protected individual by a custodian or attorney-in-fact. An order specifying that only a part of the protected individual's property vests in the conservator creates a limited conservatorship.
2. Except as otherwise provided in this act, the protected individual's interest in property vested in a conservator by this section is not transferable or assignable by the protected individual. Though ineffective to affect property rights, an attempted transfer or assignment by the protected individual may generate a claim for restitution or damages that, subject to presentation and allowance, may be satisfied as provided in section 5429.
3. Property vested in a conservator by this section and the protected individual's interest in that property is not subject to levy, garnishment, or similar process other than an order issued in the protective proceeding made as provided in section 5429.

Sec. 5420.

1. Letters of conservatorship are evidence of transfer of all of the protected individual's property, or the part of that property specified in the letters, to the conservator. An order terminating a conservatorship is evidence of transfer of the property subjected to the conservatorship from the conservator to the protected individual or that individual's successors.
2. Subject to the requirements of general statutes governing the filing or recordation of documents of title to land or other property, letters of conservatorship or an order terminating a conservatorship may be filed or recorded to give record notice of title as between the conservator and the protected individual.

Sec. 5421.

Sec. 5422.

1. A person who in good faith either assists or deals with a conservator for value in a transaction other than those requiring a court order as provided in section 5407 is protected as if the conservator properly exercised the power. The fact that a person knowingly deals with a conservator does not alone require the person to inquire into the existence of a power or the propriety of its exercise, but a restriction on a conservator's powers that is endorsed on letters as provided in section 5427 is effective as to third persons. A person is not bound to see to the proper application of estate property paid or delivered to a conservator.
2. The protection expressed in this section extends to a procedural irregularity or jurisdictional defect that occurs in a proceeding leading to the issuance of letters and is not a substitution for protection provided by a comparable provision of the law relating to a commercial transaction or to simplifying a transfer of securities by a fiduciary.