Sec. 5423.

1. Subject to a limitation provided in section 5427, a conservator has all of the powers conferred in this section and the additional powers conferred by law on trustees in this state. In addition, a conservator of the estate of an unmarried minor, as to whom no one has parental rights, has the powers, responsibilities, and duties of a guardian described in section 5215 until the individual is no longer a minor or marries. The parental rights conferred on a conservator by this section do not preclude a guardian's appointment as provided in part 2.
2. Acting reasonably in an effort to accomplish the purpose of the appointment and without court authorization or confirmation, a conservator may do any of the following:
   • (a) Collect, hold, or retain estate property, including land in another state, until judging that disposition of the property should be made. Property may be retained even though it includes property in which the conservator is personally interested.
   • (b) Receive an addition to the estate.
   • (c) Continue or participate in the operation of a business or other enterprise.
   • (d) Acquire an undivided interest in estate property in which the conservator, in a fiduciary capacity, holds an undivided interest.
   • (e) Invest or reinvest estate property. If the conservator exercises the power conferred by this subdivision, the conservator must invest or reinvest the property in accordance with the Michigan prudent investor rule.
   • (f) Deposit estate money in a state or federally insured financial institution including one operated by the conservator.
   • (g) Acquire or dispose of estate property, including land in another state, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale, or manage, develop, improve, exchange, partition, change the character of, or abandon estate property.
   • (h) Make an ordinary or extraordinary repair or alteration in a building or other structure, demolish an improvement, or raze an existing or erect a new party wall or building.
   • (i) Subdivide, develop, or dedicate land to public use; make or obtain the vacation of a plat or adjust a boundary; adjust a difference in valuation on exchange or partition by giving or receiving consideration; or dedicate an easement to public use without consideration.
   • (j) Enter for any purpose into a lease as lessor or lessee with or without option to purchase or renew for a term within or extending beyond the term of the conservatorship.
   • (k) Enter into a lease or arrangement for exploration and removal of a mineral or other natural resource or enter into a pooling or unitization agreement.
   • (l) Grant an option involving disposition of estate property or take an option for the acquisition of property.
   • (m) Vote a security, in person or by general or limited proxy.
   • (n) Pay a call, assessment, or another amount chargeable or accruing against or on account of a security.
   • (o) Sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights.
   • (p) Consent, directly or through a committee or other agent, to the reorganization, consolidation, merger, dissolution, or liquidation of a corporation or other business enterprise.
   • (q) Hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form without disclosure of the conservatorship so that title to the security may pass by delivery. However, the conservator is liable for an act of the nominee in connection with the stock so held.
   • (r) Insure the estate property against damage or loss or the conservator against liability with respect to third persons.
   • (s) Borrow money to be repaid from estate property or otherwise.
   • (t) Advance money for the protection of the estate or the protected individual, and for all expense, loss, or liability sustained in the estate's administration or because of the holding or ownership of estate property, for which the conservator has a lien on the estate as against the protected individual for an advance so made.
   • (u) Pay or contest a claim; settle a claim by or against the estate or the protected individual by compromise, arbitration, or otherwise; and release, in whole or in part, a claim belonging to the estate to the extent that the claim is uncollectible.
   • (v) Pay a tax, assessment, conservator's compensation, or other expense incurred in the estate's collection, care, administration, and protection.
   • (w) Allocate an item of income or expense to either estate income or principal, as provided by law, including creation of a reserve out of income for depreciation, obsolescence, or amortization, or for depletion in a mineral or timber property.
   • (x) Pay money distributable to a protected individual or the protected individual's dependent by paying the money to the distributee or by paying the money for the use of the distributee to the distributee's guardian, or if none, to a relative or other person having custody of the distributee.
   • (y) Employ a person, including an auditor, investment advisor, or agent, even though the person is associated with the conservator, to advise or assist in the performance of an administrative duty; act upon the person's recommendation without independent investigation; and, instead of acting personally, employ an agent to perform an act of administration, whether or not discretionary.
   • (z) Employ an attorney to perform necessary legal services or to advise or assist the conservator in the performance of the conservator's administrative duties. An attorney employed under this subdivision shall receive reasonable compensation for that employment.
   • (aa) Prosecute or defend an action, claim, or proceeding in any jurisdiction for the protection of estate property and of the conservator in the performance of a fiduciary duty.
   • (bb) Execute and deliver an instrument that will accomplish or facilitate the exercise of a power vested in the conservator.
   • (cc) Respond to an environmental concern or hazard affecting property as provided in section 5424.

Sec. 5424.

1. To respond to an environmental concern or hazard affecting property, the conservator may do any of the following:
   • (a) Inspect property and the operation of business activity on property held by the conservator, including property held in or operated by a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or limited liability company for the purpose of determining compliance with environmental law affecting the property, and respond to an actual or threatened violation of an environmental law affecting property held by the conservator.
   • (b) Take action necessary to prevent, abate, or otherwise remedy an actual or threatened violation of an environmental law affecting property held by the conservator, either before or after the initiation of an enforcement action by a governmental body.
   • (c) Settle or compromise at any time a claim against the estate that is asserted by a governmental body or private party involving the alleged violation of an environmental law affecting property held in the trust or estate.
   • (d) Disclaim a power granted by a document, statute, or rule of law that, in the sole discretion of the conservator, may cause the conservator to incur personal liability under an environmental law.
   • (e) Decline to serve or resign as a conservator if the conservator reasonably believes that there is or may be a conflict of interest between the conservator in its fiduciary capacity and in its individual capacity because of a potential claim or liability that may be asserted against the conservator on behalf of the estate because of the type or condition of property held in the estate.
   • (f) Charge the cost of an inspection, review, abatement, response, cleanup, claim settlement, or remedial action authorized in this section against the estate income or principal.
2. The powers listed in subsection (1) are by way of enumeration and not limitation on the conservator's power to respond to an environmental concern or hazard.
3. A conservator is not personally liable to a beneficiary or other party for a decrease in the value of estate property by reason of the conservator's compliance with an environmental law, specifically including a reporting requirement under such a law. Neither the acceptance by the conservator of property nor a failure by the conservator to inspect property or a business operation creates an inference that there is or may be liability under an environmental law with respect to the property or business operation. The authority granted by this section is solely to facilitate the administration and protection of estate property and is not to impose greater responsibility or liability on the conservator than imposed by law absent these provisions.

Sec. 5425.

A conservator may expend or distribute estate income or principal without court authorization or confirmation for the support, education, care, or benefit of the protected individual or the protected individual's dependents in accordance with the following principles:

• (a) The conservator shall consider a recommendation relating to the appropriate standard of support, education, and benefit for the protected individual or a dependent made by a parent or guardian, if any. The conservator shall not be surcharged for money paid to a person or organization furnishing support, education, or care to the protected individual or a dependent in compliance with the recommendation of the protected individual's parent or guardian unless the conservator knows that the parent or guardian derives personal financial benefit from that payment, including a benefit by relief from a personal duty of support, or that the recommendation is clearly not in the protected individual's best interests.
• (b) The conservator shall expend or distribute money reasonably necessary for the support, education, care, or benefit of the protected individual or a dependent with due regard to all of the following:
  • (i) The estate size, the conservatorship's probable duration, and the likelihood that the protected individual, at some future time, may be fully able to be wholly self-sufficient and able to manage business affairs and the estate.
  • (ii) The accustomed standard of living of the protected individual and the dependents.
  • (iii) Other money or sources used for the protected individual's support.
• (c) The conservator may expend estate money for the support of an individual legally dependent on the protected individual and others who are members of the protected individual's household who are unable to support themselves and who are in need of support.
• (d) The conservator may pay money to be expended under this section to any person, including the protected individual, to reimburse for an expenditure that the conservator might have made or in advance for a service to be rendered to the protected individual, if it is reasonable to expect the service will be performed and an advance payment is customary or reasonably necessary under the circumstances.
• (e) In discharging a responsibility conferred by court order or this part, a conservator shall implement the principles described in section 5407(1) to the extent possible.