§560:5-413  Who may be conservator;
priorities.  (a)  Except as otherwise provided in subsection (d), the
court, in appointing a conservator, shall consider persons otherwise qualified
in the following order of priority:



(1)  A conservator, guardian of the estate, or other
like fiduciary appointed or recognized by an appropriate court of any other
jurisdiction in which the protected person resides;



(2)  A person nominated as conservator by the
respondent, including the respondent's most recent nomination made in a durable
power of attorney, if the respondent has attained fourteen years of age and at
the time of the nomination had sufficient capacity to express a preference;



(3)  An agent appointed by the respondent to manage
the respondent's property under a durable power of attorney;



(4)  The spouse or reciprocal beneficiary of the
respondent;



(5)  An adult child of the respondent;



(6)  A parent of the respondent; and



(7)  An adult with whom the respondent has resided for
more than six months before the filing of the petition.



(b)  A person having priority under subsection
(a)(1), (4), (5), or (6) may designate in writing a substitute to serve instead
and thereby transfer the priority to the substitute.



(c)  With respect to persons having equal
priority, the court shall select the one it considers best qualified.  The
court, acting in the best interest of the protected person, may decline to
appoint a person having priority and appoint a person having a lower priority
or no priority.



(d)  An owner, operator, or employee of a
long-term care institution at which the respondent is receiving care shall not
be appointed as conservator unless related to the respondent by blood,
marriage, adoption, or otherwise ordered by the court. [L 2004, c 161, pt of
§1]