What is an executor paid?
Every state answers differently: a fixed schedule, a presumption, or just “reasonable.” Pick your state, type the numbers, and see the math with the statute behind it.
How each state works
California fixes the fee by statute (Prob. Code §10800): 4% of the first $100,000 of the estate accounted for, then 3%, 2%, 1%, and 0.5% as the estate grows. The estate’s attorney earns a separate fee on the same schedule. The court may reduce the ordinary fee when the administration ran past the time the Probate Code or the court allowed, the delay was within the executor’s control, and it was not in the best interest of the estate or the people interested in it (Prob. Code §12205). It also decides when it’s paid, and extra work (selling the house, lawsuits, tax trouble) can earn more, in an amount the court sets.
New York (SCPA §2307) pays half the schedule on what you take in and half on what you pay out, from 5% of the first $100,000 down to 2% above $5,000,000, plus 5% of any rents you collect. Specific bequests and real estate that passes directly don’t count. With co-executors, how many full commissions exist depends on the estate’s size.
New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 3B:18-13, -14) separates the two jobs: 6% of the income the estate earns, plus corpus commissions of 5% on the first $200,000 of principal, 3.5% to $1,000,000, and 2% above. Each additional co-fiduciary adds 1% to the pot, shared.
Florida (Fla. Stat. §733.617) calls 3% of the first $1,000,000 of the probate inventory plus income “presumed reasonable,” sliding to 1.5% at the top. The court can still raise or lower it based on how the work went.
Texas (Est. Code ch. 352) pays 5% of cash in and 5% of cash out, capped at 5% of the gross estate. The biggest pools often earn nothing: money already on hand or in the bank at death, life insurance, and cash paid to beneficiaries as their share of the estate are all excluded. Many Texas executors find the statutory number surprisingly small; the court can allow reasonable pay instead when it comes out unfair.
Pennsylvania has no schedule at all. The statute promises only “reasonable and just” pay (20 Pa.C.S. §3537). The numbers above come from the Johnson Estate guideline many PA courts use as a benchmark, but judges aren’t bound by it and want fees tied to the work that was done.
Everywhere else? The calculator covers all 50 states and DC. Eighteen more states have a fee schedule set out in the statute, from Missouri’s minimum (RSMo 473.153) to ceilings like Maryland’s 9%/3.6% (Est. & Trusts §7-601) and flat defaults like Wisconsin’s 2%, and the calculator computes each one, labeled as the floor, ceiling, or default its statute makes it. The remaining 26 states and DC pay “reasonable compensation,” with no percentage to compute. Pick one of those states above and you get the standard itself, statute-cited, with what courts weigh, instead of a made-up percentage.
The caveats that apply everywhere
- If the will sets the executor’s pay, the will usually wins. Have the attorney read it.
- Executor pay is taxable income to you. If you’re also the main beneficiary, waiving the fee and taking more as inheritance is often smarter. Talk it over with the attorney and a tax preparer.
- Co-executors share by rules that differ per state; nobody gets double.
- Courts can trim or deny fees for slow or careless administration.