§9.32 General Powers and Duties

• Library: Elder Law Deskbook (2023 Ed.)

1. (§9.32) General Powers and Duties

The conservator of an estate of a minor or a disabled person has a general obligation to protect, preserve, and manage the estate. Section 475.130.1, RSMo Supp. 2020. The conservator must invest the estate funds prudently. Id. The conservator has a general obligation to use the degree of care, skill, and prudence that an ordinarily prudent person uses in managing the property of and conducting transactions on behalf of others and to avoid conflicts of interest that impair the conservator’s ability to so act. Id. A conservator who has special skills is under a duty to use those skills in conducting the protectee’s affairs. Id.

The conservator has a general duty to provide for the care of the protectee and to expend the funds of the protectee for that purpose. A court may limit that generalized duty. Section 475.010(3), RSMo Supp. 2020. A “limited conservator” only has the authority to perform the acts and control the assets that the court specifies in its order. Estate of Rogers v. Battista, 125 S.W.3d 334, 340 (Mo. App. E.D. 2004). But any expenditure made without prior court approval is made at the risk of the conservator that it will not be approved by the court, which causes the conservator to be liable to the estate in the amount of the unauthorized expenditure. In re Mansour’s Estate, 185 S.W.2d 360 (Mo. App. E.D. 1945); Hamiltonian Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass’n v. Reliance Ins. Co., 527 S.W.2d 440 (Mo. App. E.D. 1975).

The conservator has the power to perform the following functions without court order:

(1) Settle or compromise a claim against the protectee or the estate agreeing to pay or paying not more than five thousand dollars;

(2)...