[Sidenote:  Administration.  Who entitled.  Order.]

In other cases where an executor is not appointed by will,
administration shall be granted: 

1.  To the wife of the deceased;

2.  To his next of kin;

3.  To his creditors;

4.  To any other person whom the court may select. [Sec.3555.]

[Sidenote:  Classes united.]

Individuals belonging to the same or different classes, may be united as administrators whenever such course is deemed expedient. [Sec.3556.]

[Sidenote:  Time allowed.]

To each of the above classes in succession a period of twenty days, commencing with the burial of the deceased, is allowed within which to apply for administration upon the estate. [Sec.3557.]

CHAPTER VIII.

SETTLEMENT OF THE ESTATE—­DESCENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF PROPERTY.

[Sidenote:  Exempt personal property.]

When the deceased leaves a widow, all the personal property which, in his hands as head of the family, would be exempt from execution, after being inventoried and appraised, shall be set apart to her as her property in her own right, and be exempt in her hands as in the hands of the decedent. [Sec.3575.] This provision secures an advantage to the wife which does not exist in favor of the husband.  Upon the death of the wife all personal property belonging to her, whether exempt or not, passes to her administrator to be distributed by him among her heirs.  A widow is not entitled to pension money, although the same was exempt in the hands of her husband, the exemption being for the benefit of the pensioner as such, and not as head of a family.

[Sidenote:  Life insurance.]

The avails of any life insurance or any other sum of money made payable by any mutual aid or benevolent society upon the death of a member of such society, are not subject to the debts of the deceased, except by special contract or arrangement, but shall in other respects, be disposed of like other property left by the deceased. [Sec.3576.] A policy of insurance on the life of an individual, in the absence of an agreement or assignment to the contrary shall inure to the separate use of the husband or wife and children of said individual, independently of his or her creditors.  And the avails of all policies of insurance on the life of an individual payable to his surviving widow, shall be exempt from liabilities for all debts of such beneficiary contracted prior to the death of the deceased, provided that in any case the total exemption for the benefit of any one person shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars. [Sec.1756, Sup.] The contract between the assured and the insurance company, cannot be changed in any particular without the consent of the company, and a testator cannot, by will, change the beneficiary named in the policy unless it is expressly so provided in the contract.