2006 Georgia Code - 53-12-232

53-12-232. The following powers may be incorporated by reference, as provided by this article: (1) To retain for such time as the fiduciary shall deem advisable any property, real or personal, which the fiduciary may receive even though the retention of the property by reason of its character, amount, proportion to the total estate, or otherwise would not be appropriate for the fiduciary apart from this paragraph; (2) To sell, exchange, give options upon, partition, or otherwise dispose of any property or interest therein which the fiduciary may hold from time to time, with or without order of court, at public or private sale or otherwise, upon such terms and conditions, including credit, and for such consideration as the fiduciary shall deem advisable, and to transfer and convey the property or interest therein which is at the disposal of the fiduciary, in fee simple absolute or otherwise, free of all trust; the party dealing with the fiduciary shall not be under a duty to follow the proceeds or other consideration received by the fiduciary from the sale or exchange; (3) To invest and reinvest, as the fiduciary shall deem advisable, in common or preferred stocks, bonds, debentures, notes, mortgages, or other securities, in or outside the United States; in insurance contracts on the life of any beneficiary or of any person in whom a beneficiary has an insurable interest or in annuity contracts for any beneficiary; in any real or personal property; in investment trusts, including the securities of or other interests in any open-end or closed-end management investment company or investment trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as from time to time amended; in participations in common trust funds; and, generally, in such property as the fiduciary shall deem advisable even though the investment is not of the character approved by applicable law but for this paragraph; (4) To make investments which cause a greater proportion of the total property held by the fiduciary to be invested in investments of one type or of one company than would be considered appropriate for the fiduciary apart from this paragraph; (5) To the extent and upon such terms and conditions and for such periods of time as the fiduciary shall deem necessary or advisable, to continue or participate in the operation of any business or other enterprise, whatever its form or organization, including, but not limited to, the power: (A) To effect incorporation, dissolution, or other change in the form of the organization of the business or enterprise; (B) To dispose of any interest therein or acquire the interest of others therein; (C) To contribute or invest additional capital thereto or to lend money thereto in any such case upon such terms and conditions as the fiduciary shall approve from time to time; and (D) To determine whether the liabilities incurred in the conduct of the business are to be chargeable solely to the part of the estate or trust set aside for use in the business or to the estate or trust as a whole. In all cases in which the fiduciary is required to file accounts in any court or in any other public office, it shall not be necessary to itemize receipts, disbursements, and distributions of property, but it shall be sufficient for the fiduciary to show in the account a single figure or consolidation of figures, and the fiduciary shall be permitted to account for money and property received from the business and any payments made to the business in lump sum without itemization; (6) To form a corporation or other entity and to transfer, assign, and convey to the corporation or entity all or any part of the estate or of any trust property in exchange for the stock, securities, or obligations of any such corporation or entity, and to continue to hold the stock and securities and obligations; (7) To continue any farming operation received by the fiduciary pursuant to the will or other instrument and to do any and all things deemed advisable by the fiduciary in the management and maintenance of the farm and the production and marketing of crops and dairy, poultry, livestock, orchard, and forest products, including, but not limited to, the following powers: (A) To operate the farm with hired labor, tenants, or sharecroppers; (B) To lease or rent the farm for cash or for a share of the crops; (C) To purchase or otherwise acquire farm machinery, equipment, and livestock; (D) To construct, repair, and improve farm buildings of all kinds needed, in the fiduciary´s judgment, for the operation of the farm; (E) To make or obtain loans or advances at the prevailing rate or rates of interest for farm purposes, such as for production, harvesting, or marketing; or for the construction, repair, or improvement of farm buildings; or for the purchase of farm machinery, equipment, or livestock; (F) To employ approved soil conservation practices, in order to conserve, improve, and maintain the fertility and productivity of the soil; (G) To protect, manage, and improve the timber and forest on the farm and to sell the timber and forest products when it is to the best interest of the estate; (H) To ditch, dam, and drain damp or wet fields and areas of the farm when and where needed; (I) To engage in the production of livestock, poultry, or dairy products and to construct such fences and buildings and to plant pastures and crops as may be necessary to carry on such operations; (J) To market the products of the farm; and (K) In general, to employ good husbandry in the farming operation; (8) To manage real property: (A) To improve, manage, protect, and subdivide any real property; (B) To dedicate, or withdraw from dedication, parks, streets, highways, or alleys; (C) To terminate any subdivision or part thereof; (D) To borrow money for the purposes authorized by this paragraph for the periods of time and upon the terms and conditions as to rates, maturities, and renewals as the fiduciary shall deem advisable and to mortgage or otherwise encumber the property or part thereof, whether in possession or reversion; (E) To lease the property or part thereof, the lease to commence at the present or in the future, upon the terms and conditions, including options to renew or purchase, and for the period or periods of time as the fiduciary deems advisable even though the period or periods may extend beyond the duration of the trust or of the administration of the estate involved; (F) To make gravel, sand, oil, gas, and other mineral leases, contracts, licenses, conveyances, or grants of every nature and kind which are lawful in the jurisdiction in which the property lies; (G) To manage and improve timber and forests on the property, to sell the timber and forest products, and to make grants, leases, and contracts with respect thereto; (H) To modify, renew, or extend leases; (I) To employ agents to rent and collect rents; (J) To create easements and to release, convey, or assign any right, title, or interest with respect to any easement on the property or part thereof; (K) To erect, repair, or renovate any building or other improvement on the property and to remove or demolish any building or other improvement in whole or in part; and (L) To deal with the property and every part thereof in all other ways and for such other purposes or considerations as it would be lawful for any person owning the same to deal with the property either in the same or in different ways from those specified elsewhere in this paragraph; (9) To pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the fiduciary, and other expenses incurred in the collection, care, administration, and protection of the trust or estate; (10) To receive additional property from any source and to administer the additional property as a portion of the appropriate trust or estate under the management of the fiduciary, provided that the fiduciary shall not be required to receive the property without the fiduciary´s consent; (11) In dealing with one or more fiduciaries: (A) To sell real or personal property to or to exchange such property with the trustee of any trust which the decedent or the settlor or his spouse or any child of his shall have created for such estates and upon such terms and conditions as to sale price, terms of payment, and security as shall seem advisable to the fiduciary; and the fiduciary shall be under no duty to follow the proceeds of any such sale; and (B) To borrow money for such periods of time and upon such terms and conditions as to rates, maturities, renewals, and securities as the fiduciary shall deem advisable from any trust created by the decedent, his spouse, or any child of his, for the purpose of paying debts of the decedent, taxes, the costs of the administration of the estate, and like charges against the estate or any part thereof or of discharging any other liabilities of the trust or estate and to mortgage, pledge, or otherwise encumber such portion of the estate or any trust as may be required to secure the loan or loans and to renew the loans; (12) To borrow money for such periods of time and upon such terms and conditions as to rates, maturities, renewals, and security as the fiduciary shall deem advisable, including the power of a corporate fiduciary to borrow from its own banking department, for the purpose of paying debts, taxes, or other charges against the estate or any trust or any part thereof, and to mortgage, pledge, or otherwise encumber such portion of the estate or any trust as may be required to secure the loan or loans; and to renew existing loans either as maker or endorser; (13) To make loans or advances for the benefit or the protection of the trust or estate; (14) To vote shares of stock owned by the estate or any trust at stockholders´ meetings, in person or by special, limited, or general proxy, with or without power of substitution; (15) To hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form without disclosure of the fiduciary relationship, so that title to the security may pass by delivery; but the fiduciary shall be liable for any act of the nominee in connection with the stock so held; (16) To exercise all options, rights, and privileges to convert stocks, bonds, debentures, notes, mortgages, or other property into other stocks, bonds, debentures, notes, mortgages, or other property; to subscribe for other or additional stocks, bonds, debentures, notes, mortgages, or other property; and to hold the stocks, bonds, debentures, notes, mortgages, or other property so acquired as investments of the estate or trust so long as the fiduciary shall deem advisable; (17) To unite with other owners of property similar to any which may be held at any time in the decedent´s estate or in any trusts, in carrying out any plan for the consolidation or merger, dissolution or liquidation, foreclosure, lease, or sale of the property or the incorporation or reincorporation, reorganization or readjustment of the capital or financial structure of any corporation, company, or association, the securities of which may form any portion of an estate or trust; to become and serve as a member of a stockholders´ or bondholders´ protective committee; to deposit securities in accordance with any plan agreed upon; to pay any assessments, expenses, or sums of money that may be required for the protection or furtherance of the interest of the distributees of an estate or the beneficiaries of any trust with reference to any such plan; and to receive as investments of an estate or any trust any securities issued as a result of the execution of such plan; (18) To reduce the interest rate from time to time on any obligation, whether secured or unsecured, constituting a part of an estate or trust; (19) To continue any obligation, whether secured or unsecured, upon and after maturity, with or without renewal or extension, upon such terms as the fiduciary shall deem advisable, without regard to the value of the security, if any, at the time of the continuance; (20) To foreclose, as an incident to the collection of any bond, note, or other obligation, any mortgage, deed of trust, or other lien securing the bond, note, or other obligation and to bid in the property at the foreclosure sale or to acquire the property by deed from the mortgagor or obligor without foreclosure; and to retain the property so bid in or taken over without foreclosure; (21) To carry such insurance coverage, including public liability, for such hazards and in such amounts, either in stock companies or in mutual companies, as the fiduciary shall deem advisable; (22) To collect, receive, and issue receipts for rents, issues, profits, and income of an estate or trust; (23) To compromise, adjust, arbitrate, bring or defend actions on, abandon, or otherwise deal with and settle claims in favor of or against the estate or trust as the fiduciary shall deem advisable; the fiduciary´s decision shall be conclusive between the fiduciary and the beneficiaries of the estate or trust and the person against or for whom the claim is asserted, in the absence of fraud by such persons, and, in the absence of fraud, bad faith, or gross negligence of the fiduciary, shall be conclusive between the fiduciary and the beneficiaries of the estate or trust; (24) To employ and compensate, out of income or principal or both and in such proportion as the fiduciary shall deem advisable, persons deemed by the fiduciary needful to advise or assist in the proper settlement of the estate or the administration of any trust, including, but not limited to, agents, accountants, brokers, attorneys at law, attorneys in fact, investment brokers, rental agents, realtors, appraisers, and tax specialists; and to do so without liability for any neglect, omission, misconduct, or default of the agent or representative, provided he was selected and retained with due care on the part of the fiduciary; (25) To acquire, receive, hold, and retain undivided the principal of several trusts created by a single instrument until division shall become necessary in order to make distributions; to hold, manage, invest, reinvest, and account for the several shares or parts of shares by appropriate entries in the fiduciary´s books of account and to allocate to each share or part of share its proportionate part of all receipts and expenses; provided, however, that this paragraph shall not defer the vesting in possession of any share or part of share of the estate or trust; (26) To set up proper and reasonable reserves for taxes, assessments, insurance premiums, depreciation, obsolescence, amortization, depletion of mineral or timber properties, repairs, improvements, and general maintenance of buildings or other property out of rents, profits, or other income received; (27) To make distribution of capital assets of the estate or trust in kind or in cash, or partially in kind and partially in cash, in divided or undivided interests, as the fiduciary finds to be most practicable and for the best interests of the distributees, and the fiduciary may distribute types of assets differently among the distributees; and to determine the value of capital assets for the purpose of making distribution thereof if and when there are more than one distributee thereof, which determination shall be binding upon the distributees unless clearly capricious, erroneous, and inequitable; (28) To make payments in money, or in property in lieu of money, to or for a minor or incompetent in any one or more of the following ways: (A) Directly to the minor or incompetent; (B) Directly in payment for the support; maintenance; education; and medical, surgical, hospital, or other institutional care of the minor or incompetent; (C) To the legal or natural guardian of the minor or incompetent; or (D) To any other person, whether or not appointed guardian of the person by any court, who shall, in fact, have the care and custody of the person of the minor or incompetent. The fiduciary shall not be under any duty to see to the application of the payments so made if the fiduciary exercised due care in the selection of the person, including the minor or incompetent, to whom the payments were made; and the receipt of the person shall be full acquittance to the fiduciary; (29) To determine: (A) What is principal and what is income of any estate or trust and to allocate or apportion receipts and expenses, as between principal and income, in the exercise of the fiduciary´s discretion and, by way of illustration and not limitation of the fiduciary´s discretion, to charge premiums on securities purchased at a premium against principal or income or partly against each; (B) Whether to apply stock dividends and other noncash dividends to income or principal or to apportion them as the fiduciary shall deem advisable; and (C) What expenses, costs, and taxes, other than estate, inheritance, and succession taxes and other governmental charges, shall be charged against principal or income or apportioned between principal and income and in what proportions; (30) To make contracts and to execute instruments, under seal or otherwise, as may be necessary in the exercise of the powers granted in this Code section; (31) To serve without making and filing inventory and appraisement, without filing any annual or other returns or reports to any court, and without giving bond; but the fiduciary shall furnish to the income beneficiaries, at least annually, a statement of receipts and disbursements; and (32) To make distribution, whether of income or principal, from the estate or trust to or for a person under the age of 21 years by transferring the amount or property interest involved to a custodianship for the benefit of such person created under and governed by Article 5 of Chapter 5 of Title 44, known as 'The Georgia Transfers to Minors Act.'

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