2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 62 - South Carolina Probate Code
ARTICLE 5 - PROTECTION OF PERSONS UNDER DISABILITY AND THEIR PROPERTY
Section 62-5-424. Powers of conservator in administration.

Section effective until January 1, 2019. See, also, Section 62-5-422 effective January 1, 2019.

(A) A conservator has power without court authorization or confirmation to invest and reinvest funds of the estate as would a trustee.

(B) A conservator, acting reasonably in efforts to accomplish the purpose for which he was appointed, may act without court authorization or confirmation, to:

(1) collect, hold, and retain assets of the estate including land in another state, until, in his judgment, disposition of the assets should be made, and the assets may be retained even though they include an asset in which he personally is interested;

(2) receive additions to the estate;

(3) invest and reinvest estate assets in accordance with subsection (A);

(4) deposit estate funds in a bank including a bank operated by the conservator;

(5) make ordinary or extraordinary repairs or alterations in buildings or other structures, to demolish improvement, to raze existing or erect new party-walls or buildings;

(6) vote a security, in person or by general or limited proxy;

(7) pay calls, assessments, and other sums chargeable or accruing against or on account of securities;

(8) sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights; consent, directly or through a committee or other agent, to the reorganization, consolidation, merger, dissolution, or liquidation of a corporation or other business enterprise whose stock or shares are publicly held;

(9) 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, but the conservator is liable for an act of the nominee in connection with the stock so held;

(10) insure the assets of the estate against damage or loss, and the conservator against liability with respect to third persons;

(11) borrow money to be repaid from estate assets or otherwise; advance money for the protection of the estate or the protected person, and for all expenses, losses, and liability sustained in the administration of the estate or because of the holding or ownership of estate assets and the conservator has a lien on the estate as against the protected person for advances so made;

(12) pay or contest a claim except as limited by Section 62-5-433; settle a claim by or against the estate of the protected person by compromise, arbitration, or otherwise except as limited by Section 62-5-433; and release, in whole or in part, a claim belonging to the estate to the extent that the claim is uncollectible;

(13) pay taxes, assessments, and other expenses incurred in the collection, care, administration, and protection of the estate;

(14) allocate items of income or expense to either estate income or principal, as provided by law, including creation of reserves out of income for depreciation, obsolescence, or amortization, or for depletion in mineral or timber properties;

(15) pay a sum distributable to a protected person or his dependent without liability to the conservator, by paying the sum to the distributee or by paying the sum for the use of the distributee either to his guardian or if none, to a relative or other person with custody of his person;

(16) employ persons, including attorneys, auditors, investment advisors, or agents even though they are associated with the conservator to advise or assist him in the performance of his administrative duties; to act upon their recommendation without independent investigation; and instead of acting personally, to employ one or more agents to perform an act of administration, whether or not discretionary;

(17) prosecute or defend actions, claims, or proceedings in any jurisdiction for the protection of estate assets and of the conservator in the performance of his duties; and

(18) execute and deliver all instruments which will accomplish or facilitate the exercise of the powers vested in the conservator.

(C) A conservator acting reasonably in efforts to accomplish the purpose for which he was appointed may act with court approval to:

(1) continue or participate in the operation of any unincorporated business or other enterprise;

(2) acquire an undivided interest in an estate asset in which the conservator, in a fiduciary capacity, holds an undivided interest;

(3) acquire or dispose of an estate asset including land in another state for cash or on credit, at public or private sale; and to manage, develop, improve, exchange, partition, change the character of, or abandon an estate asset;

(4) subdivide, develop, or dedicate land to public use; to make or obtain the vacation of plats and adjust boundaries; to adjust differences in valuation on exchange or to partition by giving or receiving considerations; and to dedicate easements to public use without consideration;

(5) enter 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;

(6) enter into a lease or arrangement for exploration and removal of minerals or other natural resources or enter into a pooling or unitization agreement;

(7) grant an option involving disposition of an estate asset, to take an option for the acquisition of any asset;

(8) undertake another act considered necessary or reasonable by the conservator and the court for the preservation and management of the estate;

(9) make gifts to charitable organizations and for other religious, charitable, eleemosynary, or educational purposes which are tax deductible as the protected person might have been expected to make, in amounts which do not exceed in total for any year twenty percent of the income from the estate, if and only if the estate is ample to provide for the purposes implicit in the distributions authorized by Section 62-5-425;

(10) encumber, mortgage, or pledge an asset for a term extending within or beyond the term of the conservatorship.

HISTORY: 1986 Act No. 539, Section 1; 1988 Act No. 659, Section 8; 1997 Act No. 152, Section 24.