How much does the executor of an estate get in Michigan?

Question

How much does the executor of an estate get as fee or commisison for the work involved in Michigan. Also, above filing fees, how much can the attorney charge for his part in this?

Answer 1

In Pennsylvania, the was a Delaware County Orphans Court Case case that established fee for estates. Johnson Estate, 4 Fid.Rep.2d 6, 8 (O.C. Del. Co. 1983), established the following fees. a listing of the dollar ranges for estates, percentages of executors and attorneys fees, etc. is listed on the following website: http://evans-legal.com/dan/estfees.html

As a general rule, the maximum fee which can be charged by an executor is 5%, and the same percentage for the attorney. The Johnston Estate case basically translated that into a sliding scale, with 5% being on the first $100,000, 4% on the next $100,000, 3% on amounts between $200,000 and $1 million, 2% on amounts between $1 million and $2 million, etc.

There has been a lot of feeling that fees based entirely on a percentage of the estate are unfair, especially in instances where an estate consists of bank accounts or marketable securities. In response to that, the attorneys who are members of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) are trending more toward charging fees on an hourly basis.

ACTEC strongly recommends that attorneys explain the fees that are charged in an estate to the executor prior to the rendering of estate services, and the standards of service are outlined on this web page, along with a model "letter of engagement": http://www.actec.org/pubInfoArk/comm/engltrch5.htm

The amount of fees charged by a lawyer should be based on the size of the estate, its complexity, and the amount of time spent.

Answer 2

Well I live in Michigan and when my Mother died her estae was about $108,000. My sister got about $3,000 for executor fees and the Attorney got about $23,000.It just depends on the amount of the estate. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!

Answer 3

it depends...they are allowed a reasonable fee, sometimes they do it for free and others the estate has it written in how much they will get.