Montana Code Annotated 2019

TITLE 72. ESTATES, TRUSTS, AND FIDUCIARY RELATIONSHIPS

CHAPTER 31. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS RELATING TO FIDUCIARIES

Part 3. Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Operation Of Entity Or Business

72-31-344. Operation of entity or business. Subject to the terms of a document or an agreement governing an entity or an entity ownership interest and unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting general authority with respect to operation of an entity or business authorizes the agent to:

(1) operate, buy, sell, enlarge, reduce, and terminate an ownership interest;

(2) perform a duty or discharge a liability and exercise in person or by proxy a right, power, privilege, or option that the principal has, may have, or claims to have;

(3) enforce the terms of an ownership agreement;

(4) initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose or accept a compromise with respect to litigation to which the principal is a party because of an ownership interest;

(5) exercise in person or by proxy or enforce, by litigation or otherwise, a right, power, privilege, or option the principal has or claims to have as the holder of stocks and bonds;

(6) initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose or accept a compromise with respect to litigation to which the principal is a party concerning stocks and bonds;

(7) with respect to an entity or business owned solely by the principal:

(a) continue, modify, renegotiate, extend, and terminate a contract made by or with respect to the entity or business before execution of the power of attorney;

(b) determine:

(i) the location of its operation;

(ii) the nature and extent of its business;

(iii) the methods of manufacturing, selling, merchandising, financing, accounting, and advertising employed in its operation;

(iv) the amount and types of insurance carried; and

(v) the mode of engaging, compensating, and dealing with its employees, accountants, attorneys, or other advisors;

(c) change the name or form of organization under which the entity or business is operated and enter into an ownership agreement with other persons to take over all or part of the operation of the entity or business; and

(d) demand and receive money due or claimed by the principal or on the principal's behalf in the operation of the entity or business and control and disburse the money in the operation of the entity or business;

(8) put additional capital into an entity or business in which the principal has an interest;

(9) join in a plan of reorganization, consolidation, conversion, domestication, or merger of the entity or business;

(10) sell or liquidate all or part of an entity or business;

(11) establish the value of an entity or business under a buyout agreement to which the principal is a party;

(12) prepare, sign, file, and deliver reports, compilations of information, returns, or other papers with respect to an entity or business and make related payments; and

(13) pay, compromise, or contest taxes, assessments, fines, or penalties and perform any other act to protect the principal from illegal or unnecessary taxation, assessments, fines, or penalties with respect to an entity or business, including attempts to recover, in any manner permitted by law, money paid before or after the execution of the power of attorney.

History: En. Sec. 6, Ch. 580, L. 1991; amd. Sec. 121, Ch. 494, L. 1993; Sec. 72-31-206, MCA 1991; redes. 72-31-229 by Code Commissioner, 1993; amd. Sec. 35, Ch. 109, L. 2011; Sec. 72-31-229, MCA 2009; redes. 72-31-344 by Code Commissioner, 2011.