McGilvary v. Knight
McGilvary v. Knight
Opinion of the Court
The deceased was for many years a professor of Latin in the University of California, and a resident of the county of Alameda. In April, 1896, he obtained leave of absence for a year for the purpose of pursuing archaeological studies in Greece, and died at Athens on the eleventh day of December, of that year. At the time of his death he was unmarried, and left no heir or next of kin in this state. After leaving this state, he executed his last will and testament at Hartford, in the state of Connecticut, May 16, 1896, which was admitted to probate by the probate court of Suffolk county, in the state of Massachusetts, and F. J. Stinson, who was nominated in the will, was appointed executor thereof. By the will of the deceased, the regents of the University of California were made one of his devisees, and on February 23, 1897, in pursuance of a resolution of that body requesting his appointment, the appellant filed in the superior court for the county of Alameda a duly authenticated copy of the will and of its probate, together with a petition for the issuance to him of letters of administration with the will annexed. Stinson, the executor appointed by the probate court in Massachusetts, is a resident of that state, and while tills petition was before the court a request from him for the appointment of the appellant was also presented to the court. The respondent is the public administrator of the county of Alameda, and filed a petition for the issuance to him of letters of administration of the estate with the will annexed. The two petitions were heard together, and the court granted that of the respondent and denied that of the appellant. From this order the present appeal has been taken.
Sections 1322-24 of the Code of Civil Procedure provide for the admission to probate of a will that has been duly proved and allowed in any other of the United States, by filing a duly authenticated copy of said will and of its probate and that, when so admitted to probate, letters testamentary or of administration
The court is not limited in appointing the public administrator to take charge of an estate to the estates of such persons as die within his county, but he is competent to administer upon the estate within his county of any decedent, irrespective of the place of his death. (Estate of Hickman, 101 Cal. 609.)
The order is affirmed.
Garoutte, J., and Van Fleet, J., concurred.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In the Matter of the Estate of GEORGE M. RICHARDSON, E. R. McGILVARY v. WILLIAM H. KNIGHT
- Cited By
- 14 cases
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Estates op Deceased Pebsons—Foreign Will—Right to Letters.—Where a will proved in another state is afterward proved in this state by filing a duly authenticated copy of the will and of its probate, the executor named in the will, though a nonresident of the state, is entitled upon his application therefor to letters testamentary if he is in this state; but, in default of application therefor by such executor, or by a devisee resident in this state, who is entitled to act as administrator, there is no statutory provision requiring the court to appoint the nominee -of such executor or of any resident devisee. Section 1379 of the Code of Civil Procedure places the appointment of the nominee of the person entitled to administration in such case in the discretion of the court, and the court has discretion to appoint the public administrator, instead of such nominee. Id,—Public Administbatob—Place op Death Immaterial.—The court is not limited, in appointing the public administrator to take charge of an estate, to the estates of such persons as die within his county, but he is competent to administer upon the estate within his county of any decedent, irrespective of the place of his death.