(a) Upon review of all data submitted by the Project Director, the administrative judge will determine whether or not there are any apparent issues of fact that need to be resolved.
(b) If there are no issues of fact requiring determination, the administrative judge will enter a preliminary determination of heirs based upon inheritance laws in accordance with the Act. Such preliminary determination will be entered without a hearing, and, when possible and based upon the data furnished and/or information supplementary thereto, shall include the names, birth dates, relationships to the decedent, and shares of the heirs, or the fact that the decedent died without heirs.
(1) Upon issuing a preliminary determination, the administrative judge shall issue a notice of such action and shall mail a copy of said notice, together with a copy of the preliminary determination, to each party in interest allowing forty (40) days in which to show cause in writing why the determination should not become final. The administrative judge shall cause a certificate to be made as to the date and manner of such mailing.
(2) The Project Director shall also cause, within seven (7) days of receipt of such notice, the notice of the preliminary determination to be posted in the following sites:
The White Earth Band, Box 418, White Earth, Minnesota 56591
The Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Box 217, Cass Lake, Minnesota 56633
Minnesota Agency, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Room 418, Federal Building, 522 Minnesota Avenue, NW, Bemidji, Minnesota 56601-3062
and in such other sites as may be deemed appropriate by the Project Director. Such other sites may include, but not be limited to:
Elbow Lake Community Center, R.R. #2, Waubun, Minnesota 56589
Postmaster, Callaway, Minnesota 56521
Community Center, Route 2, Bagley, Minnesota 56621
Community Center, Star Route, Mahnomen, Minnesota 56557
Postmaster, Mahnomen, Minnesota 56557
Rice Lake Community Center, Route 2, Bagley, Minnesota 56621
Postmaster, Ogema, Minnesota 56569
Pine Point Community Center, Ponsford, Minnesota 56575
Postmaster, White Earth, Minnesota 56591
White Earth IHS, White Earth, Minnesota 56591
Postmaster, Ponsford, Minnesota 56575
American Indian Center, 1113 West Broadway, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55411
American Indian Center, 1530 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404
American Indian Center, 341 University Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota 55103
Little Earth of United Tribes Community Services, 2501 Cedar Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404
Naytahwaush Community Center, Naytahwaush, Minnesota 56566
The Project Director shall provide a certificate showing when the notice of the preliminary determination was forwarded for posting, and to which locations. A posting certificate showing the date and place of posting shall be signed by the person or official who performs the act and returned to the Project Director. The Project Director shall file with the administrative judge the original posting certificates and the Project Director's certificate of mailing showing the posting locations and when the notice of the preliminary determination was forwarded for posting.
(3) If no written request for hearing or written objection is received in the office of the administrative judge within the forty (40) days of issuance of the notice, the administrative judge shall issue a final order declaring the preliminary determination to be final thirty (30) days from the date on which the final order is mailed to each party in interest.
(c) When the administrative judge determines either before or after issuance of a preliminary determination that there are issues which require resolution, or when a party objects to the preliminary determination and/or requests a hearing, the administrative judge may either resolve the issues informally or schedule and conduct a prehearing conference and/or a hearing. Any prehearing conference, hearing, or rehearing, conducted by the administrative judge shall be governed insofar as practicable by the regulations applicable to other hearings under this part and the general rules in subpart B of this part. After receipt of the testimony and/or evidence, if any, the administrative judge shall enter a final order determining the heirs of the decedent, which shall become final thirty (30) days from the date on which the final order is mailed to each party in interest.
(d) The final order determining the heirs of the decedent shall contain, where applicable, the names, birth dates, relationships to the decedent, and shares of heirs, or the fact that the decedent died without heirs.
[56 FR 61383, Dec. 3, 1991; 56 FR 65782, Dec. 18, 1991; 57 FR 2319, Jan. 21, 1992, as amended at 64 FR 13363, Mar. 18, 1999]