Estate of Schneider
Tragically, Ulrike Schneider died of cancer on July 10, 2009 at the age of 46. She died intestate, unmarried, and without children. Ulrike’s mother Erika stands to inherit the estate (Prob. Code, § 6402, subd. (b))[1] and would ordinarily be entitled to appointment as administrator of the estate (§ 8461, subd. (e)). But Erika is a resident of Germany, precluding her appointment as administrator. (§ 8402, subd. (a)(4).) And prior to the recent amendment of section 8465, Erika was also precluded from nominating an administrator to serve in her stead. (Estate of Damskog (1991) 1 Cal.App.4th 78, 79; Stats. 2012, ch. 635, § 1 [effective January 1, 2013, court may now appoint as administrator nominee of heir who is precluded from acting as administrator by reason of foreign residency].)
Against this legal backdrop, two competing petitions for letters of administration were on file with the probate court as of mid-2012. One was submitted by appellant Daniel Noroski, Ulrike’s long-term, live-in boyfriend. Noroski petitioned to have the public administrator (see § 7600 et seq.) appointed; the public administrator’s office opposed its own appointment in this case. The second petition was filed by respondent Jim Travis Tice. Although Tice himself had no special status that would have entitled him to priority for appointment (§ 8461), the Tice petition was filed by the same attorneys who represented Erika in objecting to the Noroski petition. Tice sought appointment to pursue claims against Noroski and others on behalf of the estate. Noroski claimed it would be inappropriate to appoint Tice because Tice was biased against Noroski on account of Tice’s relationship with Erika’s law firm and his announced intention to pursue litigation against Noroski on behalf of the estate.
The court issued letters of administration to Tice and denied Noroski’s petition, an appealable order. (§ 1303, subd. (a).)[2] We affirm.
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