§ 1037. Filing and recording will and certificate of proof At the close of a proceeding under this subchapter in which probate is granted, the clerk shall file and record the will, and a certificate of proof thereof. When so filed and recorded, the will and certificate constitute part of the record in the proceeding. The clerk shall also file all testimony given in the proceeding. Subchapter III-Contests After Probate § 1061. Contest within one year; petition A person interested may, within one year after the probate of a will, contest the probate or validity of the will. For that purpose he shall file in the division of the court in which the will was proved a petition in writing, containing his allegations against the validity of the will or against the sufficiency of the proof, and praying that the probate be revoked. § 1062. Citation Upon filing a petition pursuant to this subchapter, and within one year after the probate, a citation shall be issued to the executor of the will, or to the administrator with the will annexed, and to all the legatees and devisees mentioned in the will, and heirs residing in the Canal Zone, as far as known to the petitioner or to their guardians, if any of them is a minor or is legally incompetent, or to their personal representatives, if any of them is dead, requiring them to appear before the court on a day therein specified, to show cause why the probate of the will should not be revoked. § 1063. Proof of service; trial; revocation of probate At the time appointed for showing cause, or at any time to which the hearing is postponed, proof having been made of service of the citation upon all of the persons named therein, the court shall proceed to try the issues of fact joined in the same manner as an original contest of a will. If the original probate was granted without a contest. a trial by jury shall be had, as in the case of a contest before probate, on written demand of either party, filed three days prior to the hearing. If, upon hearing the proofs of the parties, the jury finds, or, if no jury is had, the court decides, that the will is invalid or is not the last will of the testator, the probate shall be revoked. § 1064. Effect of revocation upon executor or administrator Upon the revocation of the probate of a will, the powers of the executor or administrator with the will annexed shall cease; but he is not liable for any act done in good faith previous to the revocation. § 1065. Costs If, in a proceeding under this subchapter, the will is not revoked, the costs shall be paid by the contestant. If the probate is revoked, the costs shall be paid by the party who resisted the revocation, or out of the property of the decedent, as the court directs. § 1066. Conclusiveness of probate; limitations; infants and persons of unsound mind If the validity or the probate of a will is not contested within one year after the probate, the probate is conclusive; saving to infants and persons of unsound mind a like period of one year after their respective disabilities are removed. § 1067. Failure to contest as not precluding probate of another will Failure to contest a will does not preclude the subsequent probate of another will of the decedent. CHAPTER 57-EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS; APPOINTMENT; REMOVAL; SUSPENSIONS SUBCHAPTER I-APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTORS AND ADMINISTRATORS WITH THE Sec. WILL ANNEXED 1101. Competency to serve as executor; marriage. 1102. Trust companies as executors. 1103. Executor indicated but not specifically named. 1104. Invalidity of authority given executor to appoint. 1105. Absentee or minor named executor; interim appointment. 1106. Executor of an executor; letters with will annexed. 1107. Objections to letters testamentary; petition for letters with will annexed; issuance of letters. 1108. Failure to appoint all named executors. 1109. Powers before grant of letters. 1110. Priority of appointment of administrators with will annexed. 1111. Authority of administrators with will annexed; discretionary power. SUBCHAPTER II—APPOINTMENT OF ADMINISTRATORS 1131. Competency to serve as administrator; marriage. 1132. Persons entitled to letters; order of priority. 1133. Surviving partner. 1134. Relatives of whole blood as preferred. 1135. Persons equally entitled to letters; creditors. SUBCHAPTER III-PETITION FOR LETTERS; CONTESTS 1161. Form and contents of petition; filing; defects. 1162. When letters of administration may be granted. 1163. Setting petition for hearing; notice. 1164. Contesting application. 1165. Hearing on petition; order. 1166. Evidence of notice. 1167. Facts to be proved; witnesses. SUBCHAPTER IV-SPECIAL ADMINISTRATORS 1201. Appointment of special administrator; grounds; public administrator. 1202. Same; notice; preference. 1203. Bond; oath; letters. 1204. Powers and duties of special administrator. 1205. Powers and duties when appointed pending will contest or other proceedings. 1206. Payment of secured charges on property. 1207. Effect of grant of letters testamentary or of administration. 1208. Verified account; commissions and allowances; attorneys' fees. 1209. Division of commissions and allowances, and of attorneys' fees. 1210. Attorney's fees for extraordinary services. SUBCHAPTER V-FORM OF LETTERS 1231. Signature of clerk; seal of court. 1232. Form of letters testamentary. 1233. Form of letters of administration with the will annexed. 1234. Form of letters of administration, or of special administration. SUBCHAPTER VI-REVOCATION OF LETTERS 1251. Revocation of letters of administration; petition. 1252. Notice; citation; hearing; order. 1253. Assertion of prior right by surviving spouse or certain relatives. 1254. Court's discretion to refuse letters. SUBCHAPTER VII-DEATH, DISABILITY AND SUBSTITUTION 1271. Revocation of letters upon subsequent probate; accounting; powers of new appointee. 1272. Death or disqualification of one of several executors or administrators. 1273. Death or disqualification of all executors or administrators; bond of new appointees. Sec. SUBCHAPTER VIII-RESIGNATION, SUSPENSION AND REMOVAL 1291. Resignation of executor or administrator and appointment of successor; liability. 1292. Suspension of powers; grounds; citation; notice. 1293. Same; appearance and allegations of interested parties; procedure. 1294. Same; hearing; revocation of letters; compelling attendance and testimony. 1295. Revocation for embezzlement, waste or mismanagement. 1296. Revocation for contempt. 1297. Validity of acts prior to revocation. SUBCHAPTER IX-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 1321. Acts of remaining executors or administrators where one or more absent or disqualified. 1322. Transcript of court minutes as evidence. Subchapter I-Appointment of Executors and Administrators With the Will Annexed § 1101. Competency to serve as executor; marriage (a) A person is not competent to serve as executor or executrix who, at the time the will is admitted to probate, is: (1) under the age of majority; (2) convicted of an infamous crime; or (3) adjudged by the court incompetent to execute the duties of the trust by reason of drunkenness, improvidence, or want of understanding or integrity. (b) Marriage does not disqualify a woman from serving as executrix. § 1102. Trust companies as executors A corporation or association authorized to conduct the business of a trust company in the Canal Zone may be appointed to act as an executor, in like manner as an individual. § 1103. Executor indicated but not specifically named When it appears, by the terms of a will, that it was the intention of the testator to commit the execution of the will and the administration of his estate to a person as executor, that person, although not named executor, is entitled to letters testamentary in like manner as if he had been named executor. § 1104. Invalidity of authority given executor to appoint An authority to an executor to appoint an executor is void. § 1105. Absentee or minor named executor; interim appointment When a person absent from the Canal Zone, or a minor, is named executor, and there is another executor who accepts the trust and qualifies, the latter may have letters testamentary and administer the estate until the return of the absentee or the majority of the minor, who may then be admitted as joint executor. If there is no other executor, letters of administration, with the will annexed, shall be granted; but the court may revoke them on the return of the absent executor or the arrival of the minor at the age of majority. § 1106. Executor of an executor; letters with will annexed An executor of an executor may not, as such, be authorized to administer on the estate of the first testator. If an executor is not named in the will, or if the sole executor or all the executors, therein named, are dead or incompetent, or renounce, or fail to apply for letters or to appear and qualify, or die after the issuance of letters and before the completion of the administration, letters of administration with the will annexed shall be issued. § 1107. Objections to letters testamentary; petition for letters with will annexed; issuance of letters A person interested in an estate or will may file objections in writing to granting letters testamentary to the persons named as executors, or any of them, and may, at the same time, file a petition for letters of administration with the will annexed. The court shall hear and determine the objections so filed. If an objection is not made, the court, when admitting a will to probate, shall issue letters thereon to the persons named therein as executors who are competent to discharge the trust and who have not renounced their right to letters. § 1108. Failure to appoint all named executors When all the executors named in a will are not appointed by the court, those appointed have the same authority to act in every respect as effectually as all would have if appointed. § 1109. Powers before grant of letters A person has no power as an executor, until he qualifies, except that, before letters are issued, he may pay funeral charges and take necessary measures for the preservation of the estate. § 1110. Priority of appointment of administrators with will annexed Persons are entitled to appointment as administrators with the will annexed in the same order of priority as in the appointment of administrators of intestate estates, except that, as to foreign wills, a person who is interested in the will has priority over one who is not. § 1111. Authority of administrators with will annexed; discre tionary power Administrators with the will annexed have the same authority over the estates that executors named in the will would have, and their acts are as effectual for all purposes; but if a power or authority conferred upon an executor is discretionary, and is not conferred by law, it is not conferred upon an administrator with the will annexed. Subchapter II-Appointment of Administrators § 1131. Competency to serve as administrator; marriage (a) A person is not competent to serve as administrator or admínistratrix who: (1) is not a bona fide resident of the Canal Zone; and (2) does not have the qualifications required of an executor or executrix. (b) Marriage does not disqualify a woman from serving as administratrix. § 1132. Persons entitled to letters; order of priority Administration of the estate of a person dying intestate shall be granted to one or more of the persons hereinafter mentioned, the relatives of the deceased being entitled to administer only when they are entitled to succeed to his estate or a portion thereof; and they are, respectively, entitled to letters in the following order: (1) the surviving spouse, or a competent person whom he or she requests to have appointed; (2) the children; (3) the grandchildren; (4) the parents; (5) the brothers and sisters; (6) the next of kin entitled to share in the estate; (7) the relatives of a previously deceased spouse, when they are entitled to succeed to a portion of the estate pursuant to section 549 or 550 of this title; (8) the public administrator; (9) the creditors; and (10) any person legally competent. § 1133. Surviving partner The surviving partner of a decedent may not be appointed administrator of the estate if a person interested in the estate objects to his appointment. § 1134. Relatives of whole blood as preferred Of several persons claiming and equally entitled to administer, relatives of the whole blood shall be preferred to those of the half blood. § 1135. Persons equally entitled to letters; creditors When there are several persons equally entitled to the administration, the court may grant letters to one or more of them; and when a creditor is claiming letters the court, at the request of another creditor, may grant letters to any other person legally competent. § 1136. Minors and incompetents; discretion of court If a person otherwise entitled to administration is a minor, or an incompetent person, letters may be granted, to his or her guardian, or any other person entitled to letters of administration. § 1137. Failure of persons having priority to claim letters Letters of administration shall be granted to any competent applicant, when persons having priority fail to claim letters for themselves. § 1138. Letters to persons other than those entitled Letters of administration may be granted to one or more competent persons, although not otherwise entitled to them, at the written request of the person entitled, filed in the court. When the person entitled is a nonresident of the Canal Zone, affidavits, taken ex parte before an officer authorized by the laws of the Canal Zone to take acknowledgments and administer oaths out of the Canal Zone, may be received as prima facie evidence of the identity of the party, if free from suspicion, and the fact is established to the satisfaction of the court. § 1139. Trust companies as administrators A corporation or association authorized to conduct the business of a trust company in the Canal Zone may be appointed to act as an administrator, in like manner as an individual. Subchapter III-Petition for Letters; Contests § 1161. Form and contents of petition; filing; defects (a) A petition for letters of administration shall be in writing, signed by the applicant or his counsel, and filed with the clerk of the court, and shall state the: (1) jurisdictional facts; (2) names, ages and post-office addresses of the heirs of the decedent, as far as known to the applicant; and (3) character and estimated value of the property of the estate. (b) A defect of form or in the statement of jurisdictional facts actually existing does not make void an order appointing an administrator or any of the subsequent proceedings. |