Section 53-8-1. Authorized investments; standard of care; deviation from will or other disposition; investments by personal representative who is a bank or trust company

   (a) Unless otherwise expressly provided in the will, a personal representative shall be authorized to make those investments that are listed in Code Sections 53-8-2 and 53-8-3.

(b) In making any other investments and in acquiring and retaining those investments and managing the property of the estate, the personal representative shall exercise the judgment and care, under the circumstances then prevailing, which persons of prudence, discretion, and intelligence exercise in the management of their own affairs, not in regard to speculation but in regard to the permanent disposition of their funds, considering the probable income as well as the probable safety of their capital.

(c) Within the limitations of the standard provided in subsection (b) of this Code section and considering individual investments as a part of an overall administrative strategy, a personal representative is authorized to acquire and retain every kind of property whether real, personal, or mixed, and every kind of investment, specifically including, but not by way of limitation, bonds, debentures, and other corporate obligations and stocks, preferred or common, which persons of prudence, discretion, and intelligence acquire or retain for their own account; and within the limitations of such standard, a personal representative may retain property properly acquired, without limitation as to time and without regard to its suitability for original purchase.

(d) Nothing contained in this Code section shall be construed as restricting the power of a court of proper jurisdiction to permit a fiduciary to deviate from the terms of any will, agreement, or other disposition relating to the acquisition, investment, reinvestment, exchange, retention, sale, or management of fiduciary property.

(e) A personal representative that is a bank or trust company shall not be precluded from acquiring and retaining securities of or other interests in an investment company or investment trust because the bank or trust company or an affiliate provides services to the investment company or investment trust as investment adviser, custodian, transfer agent, registrar, sponsor, distributor, manager, or otherwise and receives compensation for such services.

Code 1981, § 53-8-1, enacted by Ga. L. 1996, p. 504, § 10; Ga. L. 1998, p. 1586, § 41.