In re the Estate of Fuchs

OPINION OF THE COURT

Lee L. Holzman, J.

In this contested application for letters of administration the issue presented is whether letters should issue to the petitioner or the Public Administrator. Solely for the purpose of determining the instant application, the parties have stipulated that petitioner can establish that he is decedent’s maternal first cousin once removed but that he cannot presently be classified as a distributee of the decedent because he cannot *586establish that the decedent was not survived by relatives of a closer degree of kinship (see, EPTL 1-2.5, 4-1.1).

SCPA 1001 (1)…