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2000 SESSION
005794890Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 64.1-116 and 64.1-118 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 64.1-116. When and to whom administration, with the will annexed, may be granted.
If there be no executor appointed by the will or if all the executors therein
named refuse the executorship or fail to give bond when required, which shall
amount to such refusal, or having qualified die, resign or are removed from
office, the court or clerk may grant administration with the will annexed to a
person who is a residual or a substantial legatee under the will, or his
designee, and upon the failure of any such person so to apply within thirty
days, to a person who would have been entitled to administration if there had
been no will, upon his taking such oath and giving such bond; provided that
administration shall not be granted to any person unless the court or clerk is
satisfied that he is suitable and competent to perform the duties of his
office. If any beneficiary of the estate objects [ for good cause shown ] , no
husband, wife or parent who has been barred from all interest in the estate because of desertion or abandonment as
provided under § 64.1-16.3 shall be suitable to serve as an administrator of
the estate of the deceased spouse or child, as the case may be.
§ 64.1-118. What clerk or court to appoint administrator of estate; who to be preferred.
In the case of a person dying intestate the jurisdiction to hear and determine
the right of administration of his estate shall be in the same court or before
the same clerk who would have jurisdiction as to the probate of his will, if
there were a will. Administration shall be granted to the distributees who
apply therefor, preferring first the husband or wife and then such of the
others entitled to distribution as the court or clerk shall see fit. But any of
the distributees may at any time waive his right to qualify in favor of any
other person to be designated by him. If no distributee apply for
administration within thirty days from the death of the intestate, the court or
clerk may grant administration to one or more of the creditors or to any other
person, provided such creditor or other person shall certify that he has made
diligent search to find an address for the husband or wife entitled to
preference under the provisions hereof, and has given not less than thirty days
notice by certified mail of his intention to apply for administration to the
last known address or addresses of the husband or wife discovered or
alternatively, that he has not been able to find any such address; and
provided, further, that administration shall be granted to persons entitled to
preference under the provisions hereof who apply therefor before the expiration
of the thirty-day period. Qualification of a creditor or person other than a
distributee shall not be subject to challenge on account of a failure to have
made the certification herein required. Administration shall not be granted to
any person unless the court or clerk is satisfied that he is suitable and
competent to perform the duties of his office. If any beneficiary of the estate
objects [ for good cause shown ] , no husband, wife or parent who has been
barred from all interest in the estate because of desertion or abandonment as
provided under § 64.1-16.3 shall be suitable to serve as an administrator of
the estate of the deceased spouse or child, as the case may be.