22 Ind. App. 98 | Ind. Ct. App. | 1899
— This appeal was taken from the action of the lower court in refusing to appoint appellant co-administrator, with one Lucy Shrum, of the estate of Moses Shrum, deceased. Appellee Lucy Shrum is the widow of Moses Shrum, deceased. Appellant is a son of Moses Shrum, and
The appellant moved to strike out and reject the. objections filed by appellees. This motion was overruled, the cause was tried, and the court sustained the objections of appellees to appellant’s appointment, and refused to issue letters of administration to him. The record shows that letters of administration were granted to the widow. Section 2382 Burns 1894, section 2229 Ilorner 1897, is as follows: “If several persons of the same degree of kindred are entitled to administration, letters may be granted to one or more of xhem; but males shall be preferred to females, relatives of the whole blood to those of the half blood, and unmarried to
It was said by Elliott, J., in delivering the opinion of the court in the case of Wallis v. Cooper, Adm., 123 Ind. 40: “The circuit court has a wide discretion in matters concerning the appointment of administrators, and the Appellate Court will not control that discretion nor interfere with its exercise except where it has been abused.” Oases might arise where the size and extent of the estate to be administered, or the conflicting interests of heirs and creditors, might justify or demand the appointment of some one to act with the person who is by law first entitled to letters of administration; but, in a large majority of cases, we think it would be found upon investigation, that, if the estate could not be properly administered without an associate administrator, the appointment of the person first entitled by law to- the appointment should have been refused in the first instance on the ground of incompetency. The statute, stating the order in which letters of administration shall be granted, is mandatory. Where the person entitled by preference applies within the time specified, and is qualified, the court has no discretion to refuse his request. Hayes v. Hayes, 75 Ind. 395; Andis v. Lowe, Adm., 8 Ind. App. 687. In the case at bar, the judgment of the court is, in effect, that Lucy Shrum is a person qualified to take upon herself the administration of her deceased husband’s estate^ without the assistance of another. We cannot say from the evidence that the wide discretion of
Wiley, J., absent.