If the court is appointing a representative to manage my missing brother's property, does his wife automatically get first priority for that role, or could the court just pick anyone it wants?

The spousal preference

In appointing a representative, the spouse present shall be preferred when there is no legal separation — a default priority rather than an automatic entitlement that operates regardless of circumstances. The rule assumes the spouse is ordinarily best positioned to manage the absentee's property, given the closeness of the relationship and the spouse's own stake in seeing it properly preserved, but that assumption is a starting point for the court's decision, not a substitute for the court actually making the appointment.

When the preference gives way

That preference does not apply if the absentee left no spouse, or if the spouse present is a minor or otherwise incompetent; in those situations, any competent person may be appointed by the court. The rule therefore accounts for the practical reality that the spouse may simply not exist, or may not be in a position to responsibly manage the property, and in either case the court is not left without a way to secure someone to look after the absentee's estate.

The same rule for a declaration-of-absence trustee

In case of a declaration of absence, the trustee or administrator of the absentee's property is appointed in accordance with the same preceding priority, so Section 7 governs both the provisional representative under Section 1 and the trustee or administrator under a full declaration of absence. This continuity means a family does not face a different appointment standard depending on which stage of the absentee proceeding it is in — the same spousal preference, and the same fallback to any competent person, carries through from the earlier provisional stage into the later, more permanent one.

What "competent" implies

Once the spousal preference does not apply, the court's alternative choice is still constrained to someone competent to serve, not simply whoever happens to ask or volunteer. Competence in this context means the person must actually be fit to manage the absentee's property responsibly — able to understand and carry out the duties of the position — so the court retains a real gatekeeping role even after the spousal preference drops out of the picture, rather than defaulting to whoever is first to apply.

Related provisions

• Rule 107, Section 7 — Who may be appointed
• Rule 107, Section 6 — Proof at hearing; order
• Rule 107, Section 8 — Termination of administration