West Virginia Code 44A-3-14 – Personal liability of conservators
(a) A conservator shall have a fiduciary duty to the protected person for whom he or she was appointed conservator and may be held personally liable for a breach of that duty, including being required to pay restitution for any embezzled or concealed funds.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 44A-3-14
- Conservator: means a person appointed by the court who is responsible for managing the estate and financial affairs of a protected person, and, where the context plainly indicates, the term "conservator" means or includes a "limited conservator" or a "temporary conservator". See West Virginia Code 44A-1-4
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Estate: means real and personal property or any interest in the property and means anything that may be the subject of ownership. See West Virginia Code 44A-1-4
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Person: means , generally, a natural person, any corporation, association, partnership or other business entity, any political subdivision or other public agency, public official or any estate, trust or other collection of properties to which the law attributes the capacity of having rights or duties. See West Virginia Code 44A-1-4
- Restitution: The court-ordered payment of money by the defendant to the victim for damages caused by the criminal action.
(b) Unless otherwise provided in the contract, a conservator is not personally liable on a contract entered into in a fiduciary capacity in the course of administration of the estate unless the conservator fails to reveal the representative capacity or to identify the estate in the contract.
(c) A conservator is personally liable for obligations arising from ownership or control of property of the estate or for torts committed in the course of administration of the estate only if personally negligent.
(d) Claims based upon contracts entered into by a conservator in a fiduciary capacity, obligations arising from ownership or control of the estate, or torts committed in the course of administration of the estate, may be asserted against the estate by proceeding against the conservator in a fiduciary capacity, whether or not the conservator is personally liable therefor.
(e) A successor conservator is not personally liable for the contracts or actions of a predecessor. However, a successor conservator is not immunized from liability for a breach of fiduciary duty committed by a predecessor if the successor learns of the breach and fails to take reasonable corrective action.