1224. If, however, the executor shall be a residuary legatee, instead of the bond described in the preceding section, he may give a bond in such sum and with such sureties as the court may direct, with a condition only to pay all the debts and legacies of the testator, and in such case he shall not be required to return an inventory.

1225. No person named as executor in any will who shall refuse to accept the trust, or shall neglect to give bond as prescribed in this subdivision, for twenty days after the probate of such will, shall intermeddle or act as executor.

1226. If a person named executor in any will shall refuse to accept the trust, or shall, for the space of twenty days after the probate of the same, neglect to give bond as required by law, the probate court may grant letters testamentary to the other executors, if there be any who are capable and willing to accept the trust, and if there be no such other executor who will give bond, the court may commit administration of estate, with the will annexed, to such person as would have been entitled to the same if the testator had died intestate.

1227. When the person named executor in any will is under age at the time of proving the will, administration shall be granted, with the will annexed, during the minority of the executor, unless there shall be another executor who shall accept the trust and give bond, and in that case the executor who shall give bond shall have letters testamentary, and shall administer the estate until the minor shall arrive at full age, when he may be admitted as joint exccutor on giving bond according to law.

1228. Every person who shall be appointed administrator with the will annexed, shall, before entering upon the execution of his trust, give bond to the judge of probate in the same manner and with the same condition as is required of an executor, and shall proceed in all things to execute the trust in the same manner as an excutor would be required to do.

1229. When an unmarried woman, appointed an executrix alone or jointly, with another person, shall marry, her marriage shall extinguish her authority as executrix, and her husband shall not be executor in her right.

1230. If an executor shall reside out of this state, or shall neglect, after dne notice given by the judge of probate, to render his account and settle the estate according to law, or to perform any decree of the court, or shall abscond, or become insane, or otherwise incapable or unsuitable to discharge the trust, the probate court may remove such executor.

1231. When an executor shall die or be removed, or his authority shall be extinguished, the remaining executor, if there be any, may execute the trust; and if there shall be no other executor, administration with the will annexed may be granted of the estate not already administered.

1232. When an executor appointed in any will shall not be authorized, according to the provisions of this subdivision, to act as such, such as are authorized shall have the same authority to perform every act and discharge every trust required and allowed by the will, and their acts shall be as valid and effectual for every purpose as if all were authorized and should act together; and administrators with the will annexed shall have the same authority to perform every act and discharge every trust as the executor named in the will would have had, and their acts shall be as valid and effectual for any purpose.

1233. The executor of an executor shall not, as such, have any authority to administer the estate of the first testator, but on the death of the only surviving executor of any will, administration of the estate of the first testator, not already administered, may be granted, with the will annexed, to such person as the probate court may judge proper.

1

1234. When two or more persons shall be appointed executors of any will, the judge of probate may take a separate bond from each of them, with sureties, or a joint bond from all of them, with sureties.

ADMINISTRATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE ESTATES OF INTESTATES.

1235. When any person shall die possessed of any personal estate, or of any right of interest therein not lawfully disposed of by his last will, the same shall be applied and distributed as follows: First-The widow, if any, shall be allowed all the articles of apparel and ornament, and all the wearing apparel and ornaments, of the deceased, the household furniture of the deceased, and other personal property, to be selected by her, not exceeding in value two hundred dollars; and this allowance shall be made as well when the widow receives the provisions made for her in the will of her husband as when he dies intestate. Second-The widow and children constituting the family of the deceased shall have such reasonable allowance out of the personal estate, or out of the income of the real estate, as the county court may judge necessary for their maintenance during the progress of the settlement of the estate, according to their circumstances, which, in the case of an insolvent estate, shall not be longer than one year after granting administration, nor for any time after the personal estate shall be assigned to the widow. And when the personal estate and the income from the real estate shall be insufficient to meet the allowance made, or any other allowance made as provided by law, such an allowance shall be deemed a debt against the estate, to be paid out of the proceeds of the sale of any real estate, and to take its preference for payment next after debts due this estate, and before the claims of general creditors. Third-When a person shall die leaving children under fourteen years of age, having no mother, or when the mother shall die before the children shall arrive at the age of fourteen years, an allowance shall be made for the necessary maintenance of such children until they arrive at the age of fourteen years, out of such part of the personal estate and the income of such part of the real estate as would have been assigned to their mother if she had been living. Fourth-If, on the return of the inventory of any estate, it shall appear that the value of the salable estate does not exceed the sum of two hundred and fifty dollars, the county court may, by decree for that purpose, assign for the use and support of the widow and children of such intestate, or for the support of the children under fourteen years of age, if there be no widow, the whole of such estate, after the payment of the funeral charges, and the expenses of administration. Fifth-If the personal estate shall amount to more than two hundred and fifty dollars, and more than the allowance mentioned in the preceding subdivision of this section, the same shall be applied to the payment of debts of the deceased, with the charges of his funeral and the settling of his estate. Sixth-The residue, if any, of the personal estate shall be distributed in the same proportion, to the same persons, as prescribed for the descent and distribution of real estate in this act, except that if the intestates leave no homestead, then one thousand dollars of the residue referred to in this division shall be set apart to the widow; and it is further enacted that the widow's share cannot be affected by any will of her husband, unless she consents thereto in writing within six months after notice to her of the provisions of the will by parties interested in the estate, which consent shall be entered on the records of the county court; all provisions made in this section in regard to the widow of a deceased husband shall be applicable and shall apply to the surviv ing husband of a deceased wife.

Materially changed 1889, p. 480. Liability of one who without authority converts decedent's personalty into money without administration. 27, 338 (43 N. W., 107). Čited, 13, 286 (13 N. W., 401).

1236. When any person shall die intestate, being an inhabitant of this state, letters of administration of his estate shall be granted by the probate court of the county of which he was an inhabitant or resident at the time of his death. If such deceased person, at the time of death, resided in any other territory, state, or country, leaving estate to be administered in this state, administration thereof shall be granted by any probate court of any county in which there shall be estate to be administered; and the administration first legally granted shall extend to all the estate of the deceased in this state, and shall exclude the jurisdiction of the probate court of every other county.

Widow of intestate, killed in Kansas, and whose sole assets consist of a claim against a railroad company for causing his death, may take out letters of administration in this state, and maintain action here. 24, 858 (40 N. W., 401). Special administrator should be appointed by court having authority to grant letters testamentary or of administration. 13, 386 (14 N. W., 159).

1237. Administration of the estate of a person dying intestate shall be granted to some one or more of the persons hereinafter mentioned, and they shall be respectively entitled to the same in the following order: First-The widow, or next of kin, or both, as the judge of probate may think proper, or such person as the widow or next of kin may request to have appointed, if suitable and competent to discharge the trust. Second-If the widow, or next of kin, or the person selected by them, shall be unsuitable or incompetent, or if the widow or next of kin shall neglect, for thirty days after the death of the intestate, to apply for administration, or to request that administration be granted to some other person, the same may be granted to one or more of the principal creditors, if any such are competent and willing to take it. Third-If there be no such creditor competent and willing to take administration, the same may be committed to such other person or persons as the judge of probate may think proper.

Appointment of administrators is in the discretion of the county judge. 21, 665 (33 N. W., 206).

1238. Every administrator, before he enters upon the execution of his trust, and before letters of administration shall be granted to him, shall give a bond to the judge of probate, with such surety or sureties as he shall direct and approve, with the same conditions as required in case of an executor, with such variations only as may be necessary to make it applicable to the case of an administrator.

1239. When there shall be a delay in the granting letters testamentary, or of administration, occasioned by an appeal from the allowance or disallowance of the will, or from any other cause, the judge of probate may appoint an administrator to act in collecting and taking charge of the estate of the deceased, until the question on the allowance of the will, or such other question as shall occasion the delay, shall be terminated, and an executor or administrator be thereupon appointed, and no appeal shall be allowed from the appointment of such special administration.

Change of administrator does not abate action by. 17, 574 (24 N. W., 219). See 13, 384 (14 N. W., 159). Special administrator may defend suit. 13, 385 (14 N. W., 159.)

1240. [Duties.]—An administrator, appointed according to the provisions of the preceding section, shall collect the goods, chattels, and debts of the deceased, and preserve the same for the executor or administrator who may afterwards be appointed, and for that purpose may commence and maintain suits as an administrator, and may sell such perishable and other personal estate as the probate court may order to be sold.

1241. [Liability.]-Such special administrator shall not be liable to an action by any creditor, to be called upon in any other way to pay the debts against the deceased.

1242. Every such special administrator shall, before entering upon the duties

of his trust, give a bond to the judge of probate, as he shall direct, with a condition that he will make and return a true inventory of all the goods, chattels, rights, credits, and effects of the deceased which shall come to his possession or knowledge, and that he will truly account for all the goods, chattels, debts, and effects of the deceased which shall be received by him, whenever required by the probate court, and will deliver the same to the person who shall afterwards be appointed executor or administrator of the deceased, or to such other person as shall be legally authorized to receive the same.

1243. Upon granting letters testamentary, or of administration, on the estate of the deceased, the power of such special administrator shall cease, and he shall forthwith deliver to the executor or administrator all the goods, chattels, money, and effects of the deceased in his hands; and the executor or administrator may be admitted to prosecute to final judgment any suit commenced by such special administrator.

1244. If any person or persons, before the granting of letters testamentary or of administration, shall convert to his or their own use, or shall embezzle, alienate, or destroy any of the moneys, goods, chattels, or effects of any deceased person, such person or persons shall stand chargeable and be liable to the executor or administrator of the estate of such deceased person for the value of the moneys, goods, chattels, or effects so converted, embezzled, alienated, or destroyed, and for all damages sustained to be recovered by such executor or administrator, for the benefit of such estate, by a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction, and no property whatever shall be exempt from levy and sale under process issued on the judgment obtained by such executor or administrator in such action.

Rewritten 1885, p. 245.

1245. When any such executor or administrator shall die without having fully administered the estate, the probate court may grant letters of administration with the will annexed, or otherwise, as the case may require, to some suitable person, to administer the goods and estate of the deceased not already administered.

1246. If any administrator shall reside out of this state, or shall neglect, after due notice by the judge of probate, to render his account and to settle the estate according to law, or to perform any decree of such court, or shall abscond, or become insane, or otherwise unsuitable and incapable to discharge the trust, the probate court may, by an order therefor, remove such administrator.

Court may accept resignation of administrator about to remove. 18, 148 (24 N. W., 716). 1247. When an unmarried woman who is administratrix alone, or jointly with another person, shall marry, her marriage shall extinguish her authority as administratrix.

1248. When an administrator shall be removed, or his authority shall be extinguished, the remaining administrator may execute the trust; if there shall be no other, the court of probate may commit administration of the estate not already administered to some suitable person, as in case of the death of a sole administrator.

1249. An administrator appointed in the place of any former executor, or administrator, for the purpose of administering the estate not already administered, shall have the same powers, and shall proceed in settling the estate in the same manner as the former executor or administrator should have had or done, and may prosecute or defend any action commenced by or against the former executor or administrator, and may have execution on any judgment recovered in the name of such former executor or administrator.

The office of administrator is a continuous office, though the person in the office may change. 18, 149 (24 N. W., 716).

1250. If, after the granting of letters of administration by any probate court on the estate of any deceased person, as if he had died intestate, a will of such deceased person shall be duly proved and allowed by such court, the first administration shall, by decree of said court, be revoked, and the powers of the administrator shall cease, and he shall thereupon surrender his letters of administration into the probate court, and render an account of his administration within such time as the court shall direct.

1251. The executor of the will shall, in such case, be entitled to demand, sue for, and collect all the goods, chattels, rights, and credits of the deceased remaining unadministered, and may be admitted to prosecute to final judgment any suit commenced by the administrator before the revocation of his letters of administration.

1252. All acts of an executor or administrator as such, before the revocation of his letters testamentary or of administration, shall be as valid to all intents and purposes as if such executor or administrator had continued lawfully to execute the duties of his trust.

1253. When two or more persons shall be appointed administrators on any estate, the judge of probate may take a separate bond from each, with sureties, or a joint bond, with sureties from all.

1254. When application shall be made to the judge of probate for the appointment of an administrator of an intestate estate, or for letters of administration with the will annexed, he shall cause the notice of the same, and of the time and place of the hearing thereof, to be given by personal service on all persons interested, or by publication, under an order of such court, in such newspaper printed in this state as he may direct; *and when, upon such hearing, the grant of such administration shall be refused for any cause, the court of probate may, if all the parties interested were duly notified of such hearing, proceed to take the allegations and proofs to determine the party entitled to such administration, and to grant administration without further notice.

Amended and all after * added 1873, G. S., p. 313.

INVENTORY AND COLLECTION OF THE EFFECTS OF DECEASED PERSONS.

1255. Every executor or administrator shall, within three months after his appointment, make and return, under oath, into the probate court from which he received his letters, a true inventory of the real estate, and of all the goods, chattels, rights, and credits of the deceased which shall have come into his possession or knowledge; excepting, only, that an executor or administrator with the will annexed, who shall be a residuary legatee, and shall have given bond to pay all the debts and legacies as provided by law, shall not be required to return an inventory; *Provided, however, That the inventory of a special administrator shall be made out and returned, as aforesaid, within two weeks after his appointment.

Amended and all after * added 1873, G. S., p. 314.

1256. The personal estate and effects comprised in the inventory shall be appraised by two or more disinterested persons of the county, who shall be appointed by the probate court. The judge of probate may at any time appoint new appraisers to take the place of such as have already been appointed; and when a vacancy occurs by the neglect or refusal of an appraiser to serve, or by absence, death, or removal from the state, a new appraiser may in like manner be appointed. Amended 1873, G. S., p. 314.

1257. When appraisers shall be appointed by a justice of the peace, he shall issue an order to them in substance as follows: State of Nebraska,

county,

To, of, in said county: You are hereby appointed to appraise,