Probate Code
Each state's laws enumerate certain duties and limitations for guardians and conservators. These laws tend to be lengthy and detailed. For a comprehensive understanding of them, including relevant exceptions and requirements, the statutes themselves should be reviewed. Additionally, state laws must be read in conjunction with the order of appointment of a guardian or conservator by the judge which may further limit the guardian's powers and responsibilities.
Based upon the evidence produced at the hearing, the court may grant a guardian the following powers and duties which may be exercised without prior court approval:
- Providing for the care, comfort and maintenance of the ward, including the appropriate training and education to maximize the ward's potential.
- Taking reasonable care of the ward's clothing, furniture, vehicle and other personal effects.
- Assisting the ward in developing maximum self-reliance and independence.
- Ensuring the ward receives necessary emergency medical services.
- Ensuring the ward receives professional care, counseling, treatment, or services as needed. If necessitated by the physical or mental disability of the ward, the provision of professional care, counseling, treatment, or services limited to the provision of routine physical and dental examinations and procedures under anesthesia is included, if the anesthesia is provided within the scope of the health care practitioner's scope of practice.
- Any other powers or duties the court may specify.
A guardian may be granted the following powers which may only be exercised upon court approval:
- Changing, at the guardian's request, the ward's permanent residence if the proposed new residence is more restrictive of the ward's liberties than the current residence.
- Arranging the provision of major elective surgery or any other nonemergency major medical procedure. For the purposes of this paragraph, “major elective surgery” and “nonemergency major medical procedure” do not include the provision to the ward of professional care, counseling, treatment, or services limited to the provision of routine physical and dental examinations and procedures under anesthesia, if the use of anesthesia is necessitated by the physical or mental disability of the ward, and if the anesthesia is provided within the scope of the health care practitioner's scope of practice.
- Consent to the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures in accordance with chapter Iowa law.
A conservator is a fiduciary and has duties of prudence and loyalty to the protected person's duties. In investing and selecting specific property for distribution, a conservator shall consider any estate plan or other donative, nominative, or appointive instrument of the protected person, known to the conservator.
With court approval, a conservator has the power to:
- Invest the protected person’s assets
- Make gifts on the protected person’s behalf from conservatorship assets to persons or religious, educational, scientific, charitable, or other nonprofit organizations to whom or to which such gifts were regularly made prior to the conservator’s appointment; or on a showing that such gifts would benefit the protected person from the perspective of gift, estate, inheritance, or other taxes. No gift shall be allowed which would foreseeably prevent adequate provision for the protected person’s best interest.
- Make payments consistent with the conservator’s plan described above directly to the protected person or to others for the protected person’s education and training needs.
- Use the protected person’s income or assets to provide for any person that the protected person is legally obligated to support.
- Compromise, adjust, arbitrate, or settle any claim by or against the protected person or the conservator.
- Make elections for a protected person who is the surviving spouse.
- Exercise the right to disclaim on behalf of the protected person
- Sell, mortgage, exchange, pledge, or lease the protected person’s real and personal property.