non-traditional relationships with no will in California

Dear Len & Rosie,

I am a senior gent whose lady friend died almost a year ago without a will. We had lived together in California for 18 years. Everything she had was in joint accounts with me. But I later discovered an annuity she had overlooked and no doubt forgotten about.

The beneficiaries of the annuity have been dead for years. She has no living relatives except for a couple of half-nephews in Nebraska she has not seen in over thirty years.

Since I was closest to her and I took care her, could I be appointed executor so I can get the annuity? I have no idea what it's worth.

Tom