2021 Indiana Code
Title 29. Probate
Article 3. Guardianships and Protective Proceedings
Chapter 8. Responsibilities and Powers of Guardian
29-3-8-4. Exercise of Powers to Perform Responsibilities; Enumeration

Sec. 4. A guardian (other than a temporary guardian) may exercise all of the powers required to perform the guardian's responsibilities, including the following:

(1) To receive and issue a receipt for property payable to the protected person or the protected person's parent, guardian, or custodian from any source, including any statutory benefit, insurance system, or any private contract, devise, trust, guardianship, or custodianship.

(2) If reasonable, to delegate to the protected person certain responsibilities for decisions affecting the protected person's business affairs and well-being.

(3) To invest and reinvest the property of the protected person in accordance with powers vested in, and according to the standards imposed upon, trustees under IC 30-4-3-3(c).

(4) To secure the appointment of a guardian or co-guardian in any other state, when needed, with respect to any part or all of the guardianship property located in another state, to confer upon the appointed guardian any or all of the guardian's powers as guardian with respect to the property.

(5) To continue any business of the protected person, whether in corporate, partnership, or proprietorship form, according to the rules for continuing the business of a decedent specified in IC 29-1-13-11.

(6) To pay to the person, guardian, department, bureau, or agency having care and custody of the protected person, or to the protected person if at least fourteen (14) years of age, a reasonable amount to be expended for the support of the protected person and the protected person's dependents, with due regard to the following:

(A) The size of the guardianship property, the probable duration of the guardianship, and the extent to which the protected person in the future may be self-sufficient and able to manage the protected person's financial affairs and property.

(B) The accustomed standard of living of the protected person and the protected person's dependents.

(C) Other funds or sources used for the support of the protected person and the protected person's dependents.

(7) To distribute income and discretionary amounts of principal in one (1) or more of the following ways as the guardian believes to be in the best interests of the protected person:

(A) Directly to the protected person.

(B) To a guardian of the protected person appointed in another state.

(C) To a custodian for the protected person under IC 30-2-8.5.

(D) To an adult relative of the protected person.

(E) By expending the money or using the property directly for the benefit of the protected person.

(8) To apply the guardianship property to or for the benefit of any person, including the protected person, in reimbursement for reasonable expenditures made in good faith on behalf of the protected person that the guardian might have made, or in advance for services to be rendered to the protected person if it is reasonable to expect that the services will be performed and advance payments are reasonably necessary under the circumstances.

(9) To bind all or any part of the guardianship property in a transaction for the benefit of the protected person, unless the third party dealing with the guardian is acting in bad faith.

(10) Except as provided in IC 29-3-2-6(d), powers conferred upon trustees and personal representatives respectively by IC 30-4-3-3 and IC 29-1-7.5-3. However, if there is a conflict, the broader power controls.

(11) To exercise on behalf of the protected person powers that are the same as those granted to the parent of a minor under IC 29-3-3-3.

(12) To petition the court to request the authority to petition for dissolution of marriage, legal separation, or annulment of marriage on behalf of the protected person, if the protected person is an incapacitated person, as provided under IC 29-3-9-12.2.

As added by P.L.169-1988, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.267-1989, SEC.1; P.L.77-1992, SEC.7; P.L.83-2014, SEC.2.