404.550. Duties and powers of personal custodian, directions of beneficiary, court's powers, contract with beneficiary.

MISSOURI STATUTES AND CODES

404.550. Duties and powers of personal custodian, directions of beneficiary, court's powers, contract with beneficiary.

Duties and powers of personal custodian, directions of beneficiary,court's powers, contract with beneficiary.

404.550. 1. The personal custodian shall collect, hold, maintain,manage, invest and reinvest the custodial property. The personal custodianmay accept a transfer of additional property for the same beneficiary intothe personal custodianship and may consolidate into a single custodianshipcustodial property received for the same beneficiary from multipletransfers or transferors.

2. The personal custodian shall deliver, pay over to the beneficiaryfor expenditure by the beneficiary or expend for the beneficiary's benefitso much of the custodial property as the beneficiary may from time to timedirect. If the beneficiary is an incapacitated person, the personalcustodian may deliver, pay over to the beneficiary for expenditure by thebeneficiary or expend for the beneficiary's benefit so much of thecustodial property as the personal custodian determines advisable for theuse and benefit of the beneficiary and those members of the beneficiary'sfamily who are legally entitled to support by the beneficiary or who weresupported by the beneficiary at the time the beneficiary becameincapacitated, without court order and without regard to the duty orability of the personal custodian in the personal custodian's individualcapacity or of any other person to support the beneficiary, or any otherincome or property of the beneficiary.

3. (1) Upon the petition of the beneficiary, guardian or conservatorof an incapacitated beneficiary, an adult member of a beneficiary's familyor any person interested in the welfare of the beneficiary, the court mayorder the personal custodian to expend or to pay over to the beneficiary orthe beneficiary's guardian or conservator so much of the custodial propertyas the court determines advisable for the use and benefit of thebeneficiary.

(2) Upon petition of a personal custodian, the beneficiary, an adultmember of the beneficiary's family or any person interested in the welfareof the beneficiary, the probate division of the circuit court shalldetermine and declare whether the beneficiary is a disabled orincapacitated person.

4. Any delivery, payment or expenditure under subsections 2 and 3 ofthis section is in addition to, not in substitution for, and does notaffect the obligation of any person to support the incapacitatedbeneficiary or the incapacitated beneficiary's dependents.

5. The personal custodian is under a duty to act in the interest ofthe beneficiary and to avoid conflicts of interest that impair the personalcustodian's ability to so act. In dealing with the custodial property, thepersonal custodian shall follow the investment and other directions of abeneficiary who is not incapacitated and shall observe the degree of carethat would be observed by a prudent person dealing with the property andconducting the affairs of another, except that all investments made on orafter August 28, 1998, shall be in accordance with the provisions of theMissouri prudent investor act, sections 469.900 to 469.913, RSMo. Thepersonal custodian is not limited by any other statute restrictinginvestments or expenditures by fiduciaries. If the personal custodian hasspecial skills or is named personal custodian on the basis ofrepresentation of special skills or expertise, the custodian is under aduty to use those skills. The personal custodian, in the custodian'sdiscretion and without liability to the beneficiary or the beneficiary'sestate, may retain any custodial property received under sections 404.400to 404.650, and may hold money or securities in the financial institutionor brokerage company to which the property was delivered by the transferor.

6. The personal custodian may invest in and pay premiums out ofcustodial property for life or endowment insurance policies on the life ofthe beneficiary or the life of another person in whom the beneficiary hasan insurable interest, provided the insurance proceeds will be distributedon the death of the insured life to the beneficiary, the persons designatedby an adult nonincapacitated beneficiary, the beneficiary's estate or thepersonal custodian in the personal custodian's representative capacity.

7. Subject to the degree of care prescribed in subsection 5 of thissection, the personal custodian, acting in the capacity of personalcustodian for the benefit of the beneficiary, has all rights, power andauthority over the custodial property that unmarried, nonincapacitatedadult owners have over their own property, except the power to make a giftof the beneficiary's property (i) unless granted such power by anonincapacitated beneficiary in a writing signed and dated, andacknowledged or proved and certified in the manner provided by law forconveyances of real estate, or (ii) unless the gift to be made is approvedby a court under section 475.094, RSMo.

8. The personal custodian at all times shall keep custodial propertyseparate and distinct from all other property in a manner to identify itclearly as custodial property of the beneficiary. Custodial propertyconsisting of an undivided interest in property is sufficiently separateand distinct if the personal custodian's interest in the property is heldas a tenant in common with the other owners of the property and thebeneficiary's proportional interest in the property is fixed. Custodialproperty is sufficiently so identified if it is held in the name of thepersonal custodian in the manner prescribed in section 404.540.

9. The personal custodian may establish checking, savings or othersimilar accounts with financial institutions and brokers whereby both thepersonal custodian and the beneficiary may withdraw money from the accountor draw or issue checks or drafts against the account. Money withdrawnfrom an account or checks written against an account by the beneficiaryshall be treated as a delivery of custodial property from the personalcustodian to the beneficiary.

10. Subject to the degree of care prescribed in subsection 5 of thissection, the personal custodian, acting in the capacity of personalcustodian and for the benefit of the beneficiary, may borrow money, lendmoney, acquire by lease the use of property for the beneficiary, leasecustodial property and enter into contracts under which the performancerequired by such agreements may extend beyond the date the personalcustodianship terminates. The personal custodian shall hold property thatis borrowed or leased for the beneficiary as custodial property in the nameof the personal custodian in the manner prescribed in section 404.540.

11. The personal custodian shall keep records of all transactionswith respect to the custodial property, including information necessary forpreparation of the beneficiary's tax returns, and make them available forinspection at reasonable intervals by the beneficiary, an adult member ofthe beneficiary's family if the beneficiary is incapacitated, and a legalrepresentative of the beneficiary.

12. The power, authority, duties and responsibilities of a personalcustodian, as provided in sections 404.400 to 404.650, may be modified bythe provisions of a written agreement between the transferor or beneficiaryand personal custodian.