In re the Estate of Vasquez

OPINION OF THE COURT

Renee R. Roth, S.

Decedent, Jorge Paez Vasquez, died intestate on February *18517, 1992 survived by his wife and four children. The distributees disagree as to who should be appointed administrator. Although in the past the contest for letters of administration would have required that the court choose between the competing factions, a recent amendment to SCPA 702 appears to provide a different solution.

The background is briefly stated. Two of decedent’s children, Jorge Paez, Jr. and Maria Christina Frame, with the consents of their mother and a third sibling, seek letters of…