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Section 93-20-422 – Distribution from conservatorship estate

May 13, 2021 | Family Law, Mississippi

Except as otherwise provided in Section 414 or qualified or limited in the court’s order of appointment and stated in the letters of conservatorship, and unless contrary to a conservator’s plan under Section 419, the conservator may expend or distribute income or principal of the conservatorship estate for the support, care, education, health, or welfare of the ward or an individual who is in fact dependent on the ward, including the payment of child or spousal support, without specific court authorization or confirmation in accordance with the following rules:

(a) The conservator shall consider a recommendation relating to the appropriate standard of support, care, education, health, or welfare for the ward or individual who is dependent on the ward, made by a guardian for the ward, if any, and, if the ward is a minor, a recommendation made by a parent of the minor. If the minor has a father or mother, the court shall determine whether the expense of maintaining and educating the minor shall be borne by the ward’s estate.
(b) The conservator acting in compliance with the conservator’s duties under Section 418 is not liable for an expenditure or distribution made based on a recommendation under paragraph (a) unless the conservator knows the expenditure or distribution is not in the best interest of the ward.
(c) In making an expenditure or distribution under this section, the conservator must consider:

(i) The size of the conservatorship estate, the estimated duration of the conservatorship, and the likelihood the ward, at some future time, may be fully self-sufficient and able to manage the individual’s financial affairs and the conservatorship estate;
(ii) The accustomed standard of living of the ward and individual who is dependent on the ward;
(iii) Other funds or sources used for the support of the ward; and
(iv) The preferences, values, and prior directions of the ward.
(d) Funds expended or distributed under this section may be paid by the conservator to any person, including the ward, as reimbursement for expenditures the conservator might have made, or in advance for services to be provided to the ward or individual who is dependent on the ward if it is reasonable to expect the services will be performed and advance payment is customary or reasonably necessary under the circumstances.

Miss. Code § 93-20-422

Added by Laws, 2019, ch. 463, SB 2828,§ 1, eff. 1/1/2020.