Short answer. Yes. When one of two co-administrators dies, resigns, or is removed, the rule lets the remaining administrator continue managing the estate alone, unless the court decides to appoint someone new to act alongside them. A wholly new administration is required only if no administrator is left at all.
What the law says
When an executor or administrator dies, resigns, or is removed the remaining executor or administrator may administer the trust alone, unless the court grants letters to someone to act with him.
Rule 82, Section 2 — Court may remove or accept resignation of executor or administrator; Proceedings upon death, resignation, or removal. Read the full provision →
What the law says
unless the court grants letters to someone to act with him
Rule 82, Section 2 — Court may remove or accept resignation of executor or administrator; Proceedings upon death, resignation, or removal. Read the full provision →
What the law says
If there is no remaining executor or administrator, administration may be granted to any suitable person.
Rule 82, Section 2 — Court may remove or accept resignation of executor or administrator; Proceedings upon death, resignation, or removal. Read the full provision →
What the law says
neglects to render his account and settle the estate according to law, or to perform an order or judgment of the court, or a duty expressly provided by these rules, or absconds, or becomes insane, or otherwise incapable or unsuitable to discharge the trust
Rule 82, Section 2 — Court may remove or accept resignation of executor or administrator; Proceedings upon death, resignation, or removal. Read the full provision →
The surviving co-administrator can continue alone
The rule addresses exactly this situation. It provides that "When an executor or administrator dies, resigns, or is removed the remaining executor or administrator may administer the trust alone, unless the court grants letters to someone to act with him." So the default outcome, once one of two co-administrators is gone, is that the one who remains simply continues running the estate — settling debts, managing assets, and carrying out the other duties of the office — without needing the estate proceeding to pause while a replacement is found and formally appointed.
The court still has the final say
That default is not absolute. The same sentence carves out an exception: the remaining administrator continues alone "unless the court grants letters to someone to act with him." The rule does not spell out the specific circumstances that would lead the court to add someone rather than let the survivor carry on solo — that judgment is left to the court handling the estate. What the text is clear about is that continuing alone is the default, and appointing someone to act alongside the survivor is the exception the court can invoke.
Only if no administrator is left does a new one get appointed
The rule also covers the more extreme case, where both co-administrators are gone rather than just one: "If there is no remaining executor or administrator, administration may be granted to any suitable person." That is a different scenario from the one you are describing, and it triggers a different response — a genuinely new administration, granted to whoever the court considers suitable, rather than a continuation of an existing one. As long as one of the original co-administrators remains, this provision does not come into play.
How an administrator ends up gone in the first place
The same rule also explains how a co-administrator can be removed rather than simply dying or resigning. The court may remove an administrator who "neglects to render his account and settle the estate according to law, or to perform an order or judgment of the court, or a duty expressly provided by these rules, or absconds, or becomes insane, or otherwise incapable or unsuitable to discharge the trust," and the court may likewise, in its discretion, allow that administrator to resign instead of removing them outright. Either path — death, resignation, or removal — triggers the same rule on who continues the trust.