Section 5-419
(a)
The appointment of a conservator vests in the conservator title as fiduciary to all property, or to the part thereof specified in the order, of the protected person, held at the time of appointment or thereafter acquired. An order vesting title to only a part of the property of the protected person creates a conservatorship limited to assets specified in the order.
(b)
Except as otherwise provided herein, the interest of the protected person in property vested in a conservator by this section is not transferable or assignable by the protected person. An attempted transfer or assignment by the protected person, though ineffective to affect property rights, may generate a claim for restitution or damage.
Comment
This section permits independent administration of the property of the protected person once the appointment of a conservator has been obtained. Any interested person may require the conservator to account in accordance with § 5-418. As a trustee, a conservator holds title to the property of the protected person. The appointment of a conservator is a serious matter and the court must select the fiduciary with great care. Once appointed, the conservator is free to carry on all fiduciary responsibilities. If the conservator defaults in these in any way, the conservator may be made to account to the court.
Unlike a situation involving appointment of a guardian, the appointment of a conservator has no bearing on the capacity of the disabled person to contract or engage in other transactions except insofar as the spendthrift provisions of subsection (b) of this section apply to property transactions.
Subsection (b) provides a spendthrift effect for real and personal property of the protected person vested in the conservator, except as limited by order of the court pursuant to a limited conservatorship. An attempt by the protected person to transfer or alienate property may nevertheless generate a claim for restitution. The concept is analogous to spendthrift trust provisions often included when the beneficiary is incapable of managing his or her own property. The concept is also consistent with a conservatorship arrangement for protecting the estate of an incapacitated person.
Massachusetts comment
The title of conservator vests the fiduciary with title equivalent as a fiduciary. The conservator succeeds to property held by custodians.