Short answer. Yes. Rule 79, Section 6 allows letters to be granted to any qualified applicant even though other, better-entitled persons exist, as long as those persons fail to appear when notified of the proceeding and fail to claim the issuance of the letters for themselves at that time, effectively forfeiting their preference by inaction.
What the law says
Letters of administration may be granted to any qualified applicant, though it appears that there are other competent persons having better right to the administration, if such persons fail to appear when notified and claim the issuance of letters to themselves.
Rule 79, Section 6 — When letters of administration granted to any applicant. Read the full provision →
Better right does not mean automatic priority
Having a stronger claim to administer an estate on paper is not the same as actually securing the appointment. Letters of administration may be granted to any qualified applicant even where other competent persons exist who would otherwise have a better right to the administration, if those persons do not act on it. The preference among relatives that the Rules otherwise establish, such as a surviving spouse or next of kin ranking ahead of more distant relatives or creditors, describes who should be preferred, not a guarantee that the process waits indefinitely for them to come forward.
Failure to appear forfeits the preference
The condition that opens the door for a lesser-entitled applicant is the failure of those better-entitled persons to appear once notified and to claim the letters for themselves. Their preference is not stripped away arbitrarily; it lapses specifically because they did not act on the notice and opportunity given to them. This is why proper notice matters so much in administration proceedings: the law gives better-entitled persons a genuine chance to assert their preference, and only their own failure to respond to that notice, not any decision by the court to bypass them, is what opens the appointment to someone else.
What the qualified applicant still must show
Being granted letters this way does not excuse the applicant from meeting the ordinary qualifications for serving as administrator, such as being of legal age, a resident, and not otherwise disqualified by law. The better-entitled person's absence only removes their competing claim; it does not lower the bar the applicant who does step forward must still clear. Courts still confirm capacity and fitness at the hearing on the petition. That confirmation happens even though no rival claimant appeared to contest the petition. A better-entitled person who missed the notice is not permanently shut out, either: a later showing of good cause can support a petition to have the appointment reconsidered or the administrator removed and replaced, so the forfeiture from non-appearance is not necessarily the last word on who ultimately administers the estate.
Related provisions
- Rule 79, Section 6 — When letters of administration granted to any applicant
- Rule 79, Section 5 — Hearing and order for letters to issue