Executors fee

[DancingWaters]

I’m executor of my moms estate. Soon to be settled. Lawyer called me today and want to know if I wanted the payment to me, the executor, split with my siblings! I guess I was blindsided and don’t know what I should do. What customary?

 

[VacationForever]

If you are the sole executor and it's spelt out that you should get a fee, then it should go to you. If it is not listed in the will/trust, and you decided to charge a fee, then the fee should go to you. It is your choice as to whether you want to split with your siblings, but if there is a fee, it should go to you. Anything else is considered "goodwill".

 

[easyrider]

I’m executor of my moms estate. Soon to be settled. Lawyer called me today and want to know if I wanted the payment to me, the executor, split with my siblings! I guess I was blindsided and don’t know what I should do. What customary?

I've been executor twice. It was for members of our family trusts so I was paid $25 an hour for what I did and I paid the family the same. You could tell the attorney to do whatever is customary and take a fee or split it with your siblings.

Bill

 

[DancingWaters]

I’m sole executor……..The will is set up as the executor gets a certain percent!

 

[easyrider]

I’m sole executor……..The will is set up as the executor gets a certain percent!

Because your mom set it up this way you should consider taking the percentage, imo. I expect our executor to do what we want. I'm thinking your mom did too.

Bill

 

[PamMo]

What’s customary? I was executor for a family estate. I could’ve taken a fee, but didn’t because the beneficiaries were family and church. It was a lot of work and took almost two years to settle the estate, but I was OK with that. Do what you are comfortable with.

 

[sue1947]

I’m sole executor……..The will is set up as the executor gets a certain percent!

If the will specified a certain percent, then honor the terms of the will and take it. Your mom made a decision to give extra in recognition of all the work involved. Whatever she left to your siblings took that into account. Her money, her decision.

Sounds a bit like the lawyer is stirring a pot that doesn't need to be stirred....

 

[Brett]

I’m executor of my moms estate. Soon to be settled. Lawyer called me today and want to know if I wanted the payment to me, the executor, split with my siblings! I guess I was blindsided and don’t know what I should do. What customary?

I was the executor of a family trust but did not take a fee. My brother and I were the beneficiaries of the trust and I could have taken a fee but I wanted everything to be transparent with no conflicts of interest

 

[Timeshare Von]

I was the executor of a family trust but did not take a fee. My brother and I were the beneficiaries of the trust and I could have taken a fee but I wanted everything to be transparent with no conflicts of interest

When our Mom (our last surviving parent) died, I did not take a fee . . . mainly for these same reasons and to avoid conflict with my 2 sisters.

 

[TheHolleys87]

My sister is a retired attorney and has settled multiple estates for her husband’s family and also helped my dad with my mother’s estate. My dad has made clear multiple times in emails to his three kids as well as amendments to his will that she gets a certain sum “off the top” of his estate when the time comes. Neither my brother nor I have a problem with that - we know it will be a LOT of work!

 

[mjm1]

As a side note, the fee that you receive is taxable income, but if you are the executor in a one-off way it is not subject to self-employment tax.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

My wife was the executor of her Mom's estate. Her Mom had a living trust, but did not have the trust as the beneficiary on an investment account or a bank account, so it went into probate. California has a statutory fee for the probate atty. and executor. That fee seemed substantial initially.

But it was a tremendous amount of work. We spent 6 weeks emptying the apartment. Countless loaded pickup trips to and from the apartment. One sibling came out briefly and helped emptying the apartment for 2 days (which was appreciated and was helpful) and to see her Mom the last time. The other sibling couldn't be bothered with seeing her Mom again (she had seen her only 3 times in 18 years) and couldn't be bothered emptying the apartment. We spent months after that donating, gifting and shipping or tossing stuff that we removed from the apartment. That one sibling not only didn't help, but hired an attorney to help make sure she wasn't cheated and she challenged my wife as the stated executor. Her atty would call ours and racked up $1000 in extra fees for the estate. She also withheld signing the final waiver for months while intimating that she might sue. She was (in my opinion) a royal PITA.

I calculated how much my wife earned per hour as executor and it was a bit less than minimum wage. But the estate is 99% settled now and will be closed entirely after the next tax season.

 

[Icc5]

I've dealt as executor on 2 trusts. The first was on my Aunt's and it was very complicated and time consuming. It also had the trust that included several people and some with expectations that weren't warranted. Another words I had some pain in the ass relatives not happy with what they were inheriting. I did charge but it was at the lowest amount.
In this case I had an uncle (my Aunt's brother) that felt he should get the house and other things plus money. He never bothered seeing my Aunt when she was sick as my mother took my Aunt in and helped her for over 15 years. At one point my Aunt's house was going to be divided between her siblings. She changed that after another sister talked to her about who helped and whom ignored her. She ended up redoing her trust and having her house go to my Mom and the other assets divided.
My uncle would call me every week,not even saying hello and just asking for his money.
In the second case it was my brother's estate and was to be divided between my siblings and myself. I knew that one siblings was out of work and financially suffering. In this case I turned down a substantial fee that I could have taken and paid taxes on and instead we each ended up with an extra $5,000 which made a big difference to my sister and a few others.
Bart

 

[WaikikiFirst]

every time I see this thread ... https://mb.cision.com/Public/1091/9253031/aaab613622029fdd_org.JPG
My bad

 

[DancingWaters]

Atleast, I got a BIG laugh . In my mind, I had not gotten to the end of finalizing the estate. Bottom line……I just never thought that would be a question from the lawyer.
Yes, it is alot of work…….one sister didn’t help at all ( she already bullied me out of a ring that mom gave me), one sister took many pieces of furniture, jewelry and filled her car as mom laid there dying, the other sister snickered mom out of her car for cheap a few years earlier and jewelry. I’m not troubled by all that anymore, but wonder how much more I will “hand over” to make others happy. I want to decide soon so the lawyer is able to finalize things. I gave them all they asked for, so I was shocked I’m not done giving

 

[rapmarks]

I settled four estates and did not get paid.
when we moved my mother in law to a home, we sold her home.
I had a few pieces of furniture moved to our house, cross country. My husband’s step brothers had a big estate sale. We told them to keep whatever they earned as they did all the work. They came across a few things that belonged to my husband’s grandmother and made
sure we got them.

 

[DancingWaters]

Sounds like the best thing for me to do is give them more money.

 

[sue1947]

Sounds like the best thing for me to do is give them more money.

Nope. Follow the letter and intent of the will. Your mother wanted you to have that money. Again, her money, her wishes.

 

[Sandi Bo]

Nope. Follow the letter and intent of the will. Your mother wanted you to have that money. Again, her money, her wishes.

I'll 2nd that. And it seems that the lawyer (as someone said earlier) is stirring the pot. This may play out based on how he presents it (to your siblings). A shame that he may imply to them that it's your choice (versus your mother's wishes).

 

[wackymother]

In our state, and in many others, the executor's fee is a statutory amount.

In NJ, the basic calculation is:
5% on the first $200,000; 3.5% on the next $800,000 (up to $1,000,000); 2% on the excess over $1,000,000.

With my husband, we've settled three estates. We did not take a commission on two; we did take a commission on one. Settling an estate is a lot of work and responsibility.

 

[easyrider]

As a side note, the fee that you receive is taxable income, but if you are the executor in a one-off way it is not subject to self-employment tax.

Yup. Everyone that turned in time for compensation to the trusts I was executor for were given a 1099, including me.

Thinking about the pita it was I should have taken the maximum amount to be executor. It was one of the worse things I ever had to deal with.

Bill

 

[DancingWaters]

It has been a very rough time with my 3 sisters. If they were’t manipulating, me they were yelling at me.
I took after my sweet mom and they took after my dad. A nightmare that I hope in time I can forget

Wacky Mother, May I asked why you didn’t take commission on 2 estates?

 

[wackymother]

It has been a very rough time with my 3 sisters. If they were’t manipulating, me they were yelling at me.
I took after my sweet mom and they took after my dad. A nightmare that I hope in time I can forget

Wacky Mother, May I asked why you didn’t take commission on 2 estates?

Sending you a PM.

 

[moonstone]

I am also executor (executrix?) of both of my dad's estates (he had a personal one and one for a business he was in partnership with my brother). I dont know if it is the same in the US, but in Canada the fee is classed as income and it is taxable. Also if the fee I get puts me over a certain threshold for my Old Age Security payments they can be greatly reduced. The lawyer told me to carefully calculate whether I wanted to charge a fee or accept a small token to keep me below the threshold or not take anything at all. I will be finding our from Revenue Canada exactly what the threshold amount is before I decide what to do as I have a fairly small pension so a fee may not put me over the limit.


~Diane

 

[DancingWaters]

Wow, good point to look into! Thank you so much for all the valuable information!