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2002 SESSION
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 64.1-118 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 64.1-118. What clerk or court to appoint administrator of estate; who to be preferred.
A. 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. The court or the clerk who would have jurisdiction as to the
probate of a will, if there were a will, shall have the jurisdiction to hear and determine the
right of administration of the estate in the case of a person dying intestate.
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 as follows:
1. During the first thirty days following the intestate's death, the clerk may grant administration (i) to a sole distributee or his designee or (ii) in the absence of a sole distributee, to any distributee or his designee who presents written waivers of right to qualify from all other competent distributees.
2. After thirty days have passed since the intestate's death, the clerk may grant administration to the first distributee, or his designee, who applies therefor, without either waiting for any further period of time, or requiring the consent or waiver of any other distributee; provided, however, that if, during the first thirty days following the intestate's death, more than one distributee notifies the clerk of an intent to qualify after the thirty-day period has elapsed, the clerk shall not appoint any distributee, or his designee, until the clerk has given all such distributees an opportunity to be heard.
3. After sixty days have passed since the intestate's death, the clerk may
grant administration to one or more of the creditors or to any other person,
provided such creditor or other person certifies that he has made diligent
search to find an address for any sole distributee 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 distributee
discovered or alternatively, that he has not been able to find any such
address. Qualification of a creditor or person other than a distributee shall
not be is not subject to challenge on account of a failure to have made the
certification herein required.
4. The court may appoint administrators under the same conditions as herein provided for the clerk, and when the court determines that it is in the best interests of an intestate's estate, the court may depart therefrom at any time and appoint such person as the court, in the exercise of its discretion, deems most appropriate.
B. Administration The court or clerk shall not be granted grant administration
to any person unless the court or clerk is satisfied that he is suitable and
competent to perform the duties of his office. A person under a disability as
defined in § 8.01-2 is not eligible to qualify.
C. If any beneficiary of the estate objects, 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 is suitable to serve as an administrator of
the estate of the deceased spouse or child, as the case may be.