Estate of Lane

John Lane died intestate, leaving solely surviving him his widow Ellen, who, shortly after his death and before letters were taken out on his estate, died, leaving no issue nor parents. Now comes Margaret Murray, spinster, niece of Ellen Lane, and claiming to be her heir at law, and files a petition for letters of administration on the estate of the first aforesaid John Lane, which petition is contested by the public administrator, who claims that he is entitled, under the statute (Code Civ. Proc., sec. 1365). The question before the court is: To which of these antagonistic applicants should letters issue %

The order in which letters of administration are granted is a matter of statutory regulation, and to the statute we must resort for the rule of decision. This principle should *89 be borne in mind when examining the authorities cited from other states, for unless they interpret statutes similar to our own they carry no weight. Section 1365 of the California Code of Civil Procedure provides that relatives of the deceased shall be entitled to administer only when they are entitled to succeed to his personal estate, or some portion thereof; and the section then fixes the order in…