Opinion ID: 4149760
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Maine Probate Code and Conservatorships

Text: [¶15] The issue here is whether the Maine Probate Code waives sovereign immunity when the Department acts as a public conservator. We begin with a summary of the relevant Code provisions. [¶16] The Department “shall act as the public guardian or conservator for incapacitated persons in need of protective services.” 18-A M.R.S. 5 Whether “a general statute allowing the State to enter into contracts implies a waiver of sovereign immunity by the Legislature when the State is sued for breach of that contract,” Knowlton v. Attorney Gen., 2009 ME 79, ¶ 13, 976 A.2d 973 (quotation marks omitted), is not an issue here because there is no contract between the parties and a claim for breach of fiduciary duty is a tort claim. See Estate of Hiller, 2014 ME 2, ¶ 18, 86 A.3d 9; Picher v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland, 2009 ME 67, ¶ 8, 974 A.2d 286. 8 § 5-601(b) (2016). The same standards and obligations apply to public conservators as to conservators.6 See 18-A M.R.S. § 5-601(c) (2016) (“Except as otherwise provided in this Part, the appointment, termination, rights and duties, and other provisions for guardians and conservators in this Article shall apply to public guardians and conservators.”); 18-A M.R.S. § 5-607 (“A public guardian or conservator has the same powers, rights and duties respecting his ward or the protected person as provided for guardians and conservators by the other parts of this Article . . . .”). [¶17] One such duty requires that each conservator “act as a fiduciary” and “observe the standards of care applicable to trustees as described by Title 18-B, sections 802 to 807 and chapter 9.” 18-A M.R.S. § 5-417. Conservators may, in certain circumstances, be held “individually liable for obligations” in managing the protected person’s property and for torts committed in administering the estate. See 18-A M.R.S. § 5-429(b). The public conservator is required to “give a surety bond for the joint benefit of the wards or protected persons placed under the responsibility of the . . . [State], with a surety company or companies authorized to do business within the State, in 6 The fact that the conservatorship was temporary is not material to the issue presented in this appeal. See 18-A M.R.S. § 5-408(f) (2016) (“A temporary conservator has all the powers of a permanent conservator provided in this code . . . .”). 9 an amount not less than the total value of all assets held by the public guardian or conservator.” 18-A M.R.S. § 5-611. C. Whether the Probate Code Expressly Waives Immunity [¶18] The trial court held that, read together, the above provisions of the Probate Code constitute an express waiver of immunity. The court reasoned that because public conservators had the same duties and obligations as conservators, 18-A M.R.S. §§ 5-601(c), 5-607, conservators could be held liable for their conduct in managing property, 18-A M.R.S. § 5-429(b), and, because the State was required to provide a surety bond in the amount of assets held, 18-A M.R.S. § 5-611, the Legislature must have intended that the Department be held liable for a breach of those duties. The court acknowledged that the Probate Code contains no “explicit statement that sovereign immunity is waived” but concluded that the bond requirement in 18-A M.R.S. § 5-611 “would be utterly meaningless” if the protected person had “no recourse against the bond” when the Department breached duties imposed by 18-A M.R.S. § 5-417. [¶19] In Hinkley v. Penobscot Valley Hospital, we considered whether language in the Maine Health Security Act (MHSA) permitting “any action for damages for injury or death against any health care provider” constituted an 10 express waiver of sovereign immunity.7 2002 ME 70, ¶ 9, 794 A.2d 643. Because the MHSA did not explicitly reference the MTCA and did not specifically waive immunity as to medical malpractice claims, we concluded that there was no express waiver. Id. ¶¶ 9-10. We reiterated that “a waiver of governmental immunity is not to be implied” and an express waiver must be explicitly stated in the statute. Id. ¶ 10 (quotation marks omitted). [¶20] Even if the express language of the Probate Code provisions, when read together, supports an inference that immunity is waived, this would amount to an implied—not express—waiver. Compare Implied Waiver, Black’s Law Dictionary (10th ed. 2014) (defining “implied waiver” as conduct “reasonably inferring the intent to waive” (emphasis added)), with Express, Black’s Law Dictionary (defining “express” as “[c]learly and unmistakably communicated” as opposed to “implied”); see also Conn v. Bd. of Comm’rs, 51 N.E. 1062, 1064 (Ind. 1898) (“The implication or inference which may arise in the construction of statutes is of something not expressly declared, but arises out of that which is directly or expressly declared in the statute.”). [¶21] Combining various provisions of the Probate Code to reach the inference that the Legislature waived immunity, as the trial court did, 7 There was no dispute in that case that the defendant, Penobscot Valley Hospital, was a governmental entity. See Hinkley v. Penobscot Valley Hosp., 2002 ME 70, ¶ 2, 794 A.2d 643. 11 contravenes the clear statutory language granting the State immunity “[e]xcept as otherwise expressly provided by statute,” 14 M.R.S. § 8103(1) (emphasis added), and our precedents rejecting implied statutory waivers. See Hinkley, 2002 ME 70, ¶ 10, 794 A.2d 643; Young, 535 A.2d at 419. Thus, although the Probate Code imposes a fiduciary duty on conservators and provides that they may be held liable for a breach, 18-A M.R.S. § 5-429(b), without a separate, express provision waiving immunity to bring those claims against the State, immunity endures. See Hinkley, 2002 ME 70, ¶¶ 10, 12, 794 A.2d 643 (“[W]e have never held that an individual could bring suit against a government entity under a statute that provides for a specific cause of action without first determining that the statute expressly waived governmental immunity.”). [¶22] Because there is no express waiver in the Probate Code, the Department is immune. D. Waiver Pursuant to 14 M.R.S. § 8116 [¶23] We next consider whether the Department waived sovereign immunity by obtaining liability insurance. See 14 M.R.S. § 8116 (providing that immunity is waived where the State obtains liability insurance, “but only to the limits of the insurance coverage”). 12 [¶24] The Department asserted the affirmative defense of sovereign immunity and thus had the burden of proof on this issue, including the burden to establish that there is no insurance coverage. See King v. Town of Monmouth, 1997 ME 151, ¶ 7, 697 A.2d 837. The Department met this burden. The Department asserted, in a properly supported statement of material fact, that the State did not purchase liability insurance that would cover the claims against the Department and that the State’s self-insurance excludes coverage for claims for which the State is immune. Although Vose denied this statement, she failed to properly controvert the State’s assertion because her denial was unsupported by a citation to competent contrary evidence in the record. See M.R. Civ. P. 56(h)(4).8 E. The Surety Bond [¶25] Lastly, we decline to reach whether sovereign immunity bars recovery against the surety bond filed with the Probate Court pursuant to 18-A M.R.S. § 5-611.9 To reach a bond, the Probate Code contemplates a 8 The court relied in part on 14 M.R.S. § 8116 to conclude that immunity was waived “at least to the extent of the [Department] surety bond,” which was not part of the summary judgment record, and declined to decide whether the bond was insurance until it was made part of the record. Vose, however, does not urge this reasoning on appeal, arguing that “the bonds of the public and private conservators serve the same purpose: surety. Neither is liability insurance.” Vose instead relies entirely on the argument that the Probate Code expressly waived sovereign immunity. 9 As noted, the bond the Department obtained pursuant to 18-A M.R.S. § 5-611 (2016) was not part of the summary judgment record and has not been included in the record on appeal. By 13 separate action, filed in either the Probate Court or the Superior Court, on the bond against the surety. See 18-A M.R.S. § 8-309 (2016). An action on the bond would thus proceed against the surety company providing the bond pursuant to 18-A M.R.S. § 5-611, rather than against the principal, the Department. See 18-A M.R.S. §§ 5-611, 8-309; Mitchell & Hunt, Maine Probate Procedure: Guide to Official and Recommended Forms § 13.14.2 at 13-64 (2012) (describing the procedure by which an interested party may bring a suit against the bond, naming the surety when the bonded fiduciary has misbehaved); Estate of Jennings v. Cumming, 2013 ME 103, ¶¶ 13-14, 82 A.3d 132 (discussing the Superior Court’s concurrent jurisdiction to adjudicate claims of conservator misconduct and against the sureties of probate bonds); see also Restatement (Third) of Suretyship & Guaranty § 1 cmt. d (Am. Law. Inst. 1996). [¶26] Because the claims for breach of fiduciary duty were brought directly against the Department rather than against the bond, this appeal statute, the Department is not required to file bonds in individual guardianships or conservatorships, but must give a surety bond “for the joint benefit of the wards or protected persons placed” in public guardianships or conservatorships in the amount of the total value of all assets held by the public guardian or conservator. 18-A M.R.S. § 5-611. The total value is calculated at the end of the State’s fiscal year. Id. According to the Department, the value of Dean’s assets was not included in any bond because the temporary public conservatorship expired before the end of the fiscal year. The Department represented at oral argument that notwithstanding this fact, the bond for the benefit of all wards and protected persons in public conservatorship would still cover Dean’s property. 14 presents no occasion to reach the issue; we therefore express no opinion regarding sovereign immunity in an action brought against the bond pursuant to 18-A M.R.S. § 8-309. Further discussion would be purely advisory. See Wilcox v. City of Portland, 2009 ME 53, ¶ 12, 970 A.2d 295 (“We do not issue . . . advisory opinions.”).