2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 21 - Fiduciary Relations and Persons with Mental Illness. [Enacted title] › Chapter 20 - Guardianship, Protective Proceedings, and Durable Power of Attorney › Subchapter VI - Protection of Property of Incapacitated, Disappeared or Detained Individuals › § 21–2070. Powers of conservator in administration

§ 21–2070. Powers of conservator in administration.
(a) Subject to limitation provided in section 21-2072, a conservator has all of the powers conferred in this section and any additional powers conferred by the law of the District.
(b) Without court authorization or confirmation, a conservator may invest and reinvest funds of the estate as would a trustee.
(c) A conservator, acting reasonably in efforts to accomplish a purpose of the appointment, may act without court authorization or confirmation, to perform the following:
(1) Collect, hold, and retain assets of the estate including land in another jurisdiction, until judging that disposition of the assets should be made, and the assets may be retained even though they include an asset in which the conservator is personally interested;
(2) Receive additions to the estate;
(3) Continue or participate in the operation of any business or other enterprise;
(4) Acquire an undivided interest in an estate asset in which the conservator, in any fiduciary capacity, holds an undivided interest;
(5) Invest and reinvest estate assets in accordance with subsection (b) of this section;
(6) Deposit estate funds in a local or federally insured financial institution, including a financial institution operated by the conservator;
(7) Acquire or dispose of an estate asset, including land in another jurisdiction, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale, and manage, develop, improve, exchange, partition, change the character of, or abandon an estate asset;
(8) Make ordinary or extraordinary repairs or alterations in buildings or other structures, demolish any improvements, and raze existing or erect new party walls or buildings;
(9) Subdivide, develop, or dedicate land to public use, make or obtain the vacation of plats and adjust boundaries, adjust differences in valuation or exchange, partition by giving or receiving considerations, and dedicate easements to public use without consideration;
(10) 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;
(11) Enter into a lease or arrangement for exploration and removal of minerals or other natural resources or enter into a polling or agreement;
(12) Grant an option involving disposition of an estate asset and take an option for the acquisition of any asset;
(13) Vote a security, in person or by general or limited proxy;
(14) Pay calls, assessments, and any other sums chargeable or accruing against or on account of securities;
(15) Sell or exercise stock-subscription or conversion rights;
(16) Consent, directly or through a committee or other agent, to the reorganization, consolidation, merger, dissolution, or liquidation of a corporation or other business enterprise;
(17) Insure the assets of the estate against damage or loss and the conservator against liability with respect to third persons;
(18) Borrow money to be repaid from estate assets or otherwise, advance money for the protection of the estate or the protected individual and for all expenses, losses, and liabilities sustained in the administration of the estate or because of the holding or ownership of any estate assets, for which the conservator has a lien on the estate as against the protected individual for advances so made;
(19) Pay or contest any claim, settle a claim by or against the estate or the protected individual by compromise, arbitration, or otherwise, and release, in whole or part, any claim belonging to the estate to the extent the claim is uncollectible;
(20) Pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the conservator, and other expenses incurred in the collection, care, administration, and protection of the estate;
(21) 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, amortization, or for depletion in mineral or timber properties;
(22) Pay any sum distributable to a protected individual or dependent of the protected individual by paying the sum to the distributee or by paying the sum for the use of the distributee to the guardian of the distributee, or, if none, to a relative or other person having custody of the distributee;
(23) Employ persons, including attorneys, auditors, investment advisors, or agents to advise or assist in the performance of administrative duties, act upon their recommendation without independent investigation, and instead of acting personally, employ 1 or more agents to perform any act of administration, whether discretionary or not;
(24) Prosecute or defend actions, claims, or proceedings in any jurisdiction for the protection of estate assets and for the protection of the conservator in the performance of fiduciary duties; and
(25) Execute and deliver all instruments that will accomplish or facilitate the exercise of the powers vested in the conservator.
(d) A conservator or a guardian who exercises a settlor’s power to consent to the modification or termination of a noncharitable irrevocable trust under section 19-1304.11(a), or who exercises a settlor’s powers with respect to revocation, amendment, or distribution of trust property under section 19-1306.02(f), may do so only with the approval of the court supervising the conservatorship or guardianship upon a finding by the court that the action is not inconsistent with the trust purposes.
(Feb. 28, 1987, D.C. Law 6-204, § 2(a), 34 DCR 632; Mar. 24, 1998, D.C. Law 12-81, § 14(v), 45 DCR 745; Mar. 10, 2004, D.C. Law 15-104, § 3(b), 51 DCR 208.)
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 21-2070.
Section References
This section is referenced in § 21-2072.
Effect of Amendments
D.C. Law 15-104 added subsec. (d).
Editor's Notes
Uniform Law: This section is based upon § 2-323 of the Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act (1982 Act).