Art. 3396.4.Failure to Designate an Executor

Article 3396.3 handles a testament that names an executor but omits any mention of independent administration. Article 3396.4 handles the more basic gap: no usable executor designation exists at all, either because the testament never named one or because the person named cannot or will not take on the role. Ordinarily this situation calls for appointment of a dative testamentary executor under Article 3083, someone chosen by the court rather than the testator.

This article lets the legatees route that appointment directly into independent administration. All of the general or universal legatees must agree on the advisability of independent administration and collectively designate a qualified person to serve as dative independent executor, meaning an independent executor appointed by the court rather than named in the will. Once they do, the court enters an order granting independent administration and appointing that designated person.

Read together, Articles 3396.3 and 3396.4 cover the two ways a testate succession can arrive at independent administration through legatee agreement rather than testamentary provision: one where the testament named an executor but not independent status, and one where no workable executor designation existed to begin with.