93-13-38 - General duties and powers of guardians.
§ 93-13-38. General duties and powers of guardians.
(1) All the provisions of the law on the subject of executors and administrators, relating to settlement or disposition of property limitations, notice to creditors, probate and registration of claims, proceedings to insolvency and distribution of assets of insolvent estates, shall, as far as applicable and not otherwise provided, be observed and enforced in all guardianships.
(2) It shall be the duty of the guardian of wards as defined by Section 1-3-58, Mississippi Code of 1972, to improve the estate committed to his charge, and to apply so much of the income, profit or body thereof as may be necessary for the comfortable maintenance and support of the ward and of his family, if he have any, after obtaining an order of the court fixing the amount. And such guardian may be authorized by the court or chancellor to purchase on behalf of and in the name of the ward with any funds of such ward's estate sufficient and appropriate property for a home for such ward or his family on five (5) days' notice to a member of said family, or the necessary funds may be borrowed and the property purchased given as security. The guardian is empowered to collect and sue for and recover all debts due his said ward, and shall make payment of his debts out of the personal estate as executors and administrators discharge debts out of the estate of decedents, but the exempt property of the ward shall not be liable for debts, and no debts against such estate shall be payable by such guardian unless first probated and registered, as required of claims against the estate of decedent.
(3) The word "family" shall be taken for the purpose of this section to mean husband or wife and children; if there be no husband, wife or children, the father and mother; and if there be no father or mother, then the grandfather and grandmother, sisters and brothers of said ward.
(4) (a) On application of the guardian or any interested party, and after notice to all interested persons and to such other persons as the court may direct, and on a showing that the ward will probably remain incompetent during his lifetime, the court may, after hearing and by order, authorize the guardian to apply such principal or income of the ward's estate as is not required for the support of the ward during his lifetime or of his family towards the establishment of an estate plan for the purpose of minimizing income, estate, inheritance, or other taxes payable out of the ward's estate. The court may authorize the guardian to make gifts of the ward's personal property or real estate, outright or in trust, on behalf of the ward, to or for the benefit of (i) organizations to which charitable contributions may be made under the Internal Revenue Code and in which it is shown the ward would reasonably have an interest, (ii) the ward's heirs at law who are identifiable at the time of the order, (iii) devisees under the ward's last validly executed will, if there be such a will, and (iv) a person serving as guardian of the ward provided he is eligible under either category (ii) or (iii) above.
(b) The person making application to the court shall outline the proposed estate plan, setting forth all the benefits to be derived therefrom. The application shall also indicate that the planned disposition is consistent with the intentions of the ward insofar as they can be ascertained. If the ward's intentions cannot be ascertained, the ward will be presumed to favor reduction in the incidence of the various forms of taxation and the partial distribution of his estate as herein provided.
(c) The court:
(i) Shall appoint a guardian ad litem for the ward; and
(ii) May appoint a guardian ad litem for any interested party at any stage of the proceedings, if deemed advisable for the protection of the interested party.
(d) Subsequent modifications of an approved plan may be made by similar application to the court.
(e) Before signing an order to effectuate the provisions of this subsection (4), the chancellor shall review the ward's will, if the will is known or can be produced, to determine that a gift made under this subsection (4) is consistent with the will.
Sources: Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 36, art. 1(136, 137); 1857, ch. 60, arts. 155, 156; 1871, §§ 1242, 1244; 1880, §§ 2119, 2120; 1892, §§ 2219, 2220; 1906, §§ 2437, 2438; Hemingway's 1917, §§ 1998, 1999; 1930, §§ 1902, 1903; 1942, §§ 439, 440; Laws, 1896, ch. 97; Laws, 1924, ch. 164; Laws, 1938, ch. 271; Laws, 1960, chs. 217, 218; Laws, 1972, ch. 408, §§ 15, 16; Laws, 1996, ch. 462, § 1, eff from and after July 1, 1996.