Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 76A.djvu/731

–635– -635CHAPTER 83—PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR Sec.

2141. 2142. 2143. 2144. 2145. 2146. 2147. 2148. 2149. 2150. 2151. 2152. 2153.

Appointment of public administrator. Estates to be administered. Small estates; disposition by public administrator without administration. Burial expenses and expenses of last illness. Estates of persons not United States citizens. Procurement of letters by public administrator; bond and oath. Administration of estates generally; application of other provisions. Delivery to regularly appointed executor or administrator. Compensation and allowances of public administrator; disposition of fees. Interest in expenditures. Administration of oaths. Notice of death of stranger. Notice by civil officers of property of decedent.

§ 2141. Appointment of public administrator There shall be in the Canal Zone a public administrator appointed by the Governor. § 2142. Estates to be administered The public administrator shall take charge of the estates of persons dying within the Canal Zone, or who, dying elsewhere, leave estates in the Canal Zone, as follows: (1) estates of decedents for which no administrators or executors are appointed, and which, in consequence thereof, may be wasted, uncared for, or lost; (2) estates of decedents who have no known heirs; (3) estates ordered into his hands by the court; (4) estates upon which letters of administration or letters testamentary have been issued to him by the court. § 2143. Small estates; disposition by public administrator without administration When the public administrator files with the clerk of the district court a statement that the value of an estate, of which he has taken charge, is less than $1,000, there shall be no regular administration on the estate unless additional estate is found or discovered; and the public administrator may, after the payment of the expenses of the last illness of the deceased, and the funeral charges, pay out and deliver the estate to the surviving spouse of the decedent, if there is a surviving spouse, or, if there is no surviving spouse, then to the minor child or children of the decedent, if any, or, if there is neither a surviving spouse nor minor child, then to such creditors, heirs, or other persons as may appear in the judgment of the public administrator to be legally entitled thereto, and the title to the estate shall vest absolutely in the person or persons to whom it is paid out and delivered as provided in this section. The provisions of this section apply whether or not there is in existence a will of the decedent. § 2144. Burial expenses and expenses of last illness (a) When the public administrator takes possession of the estate of a deceased person, as provided in section 2142 of this title, and the method of the defrayal of the expense of the burial of the deceased is not otherwise provided for by law or by the rules, agreement, or death benefits of an order or lodge to which the deceased may at the time of his death belong, or with which he may have been affiliated, the public administrator may, in order to defray the proper expenses of the burial of the body of the deceased and the expenses of the last illness, apply to the district court for an order permitting the public administrator summarily to sell any personal property belonging to the deceased, and to withdraw any money that the deceased may have on deposit with any bank, and to collect any indebtedness or claim that may be owing to or due the deceased.

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