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Alabama personal representative compensation

Alabama executor fee calculator

Ala. Code § 43-2-848(a) allows reasonable compensation subject to a ceiling of two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the value of all property received and under the personal representative’s possession and control PLUS two and one-half percent (2.5%) of all disbursements. The ceiling therefore applies to receipts and disbursements, not to the whole estate value. Extraordinary services may be allowed additionally (§ 43-2-848(b)), and a will or written agreement can vary the amount (§ 43-2-848(c)–(d)).

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

1. Where and when
Private by design: entries stay in this browser.
2. Compensation base

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Your working estimate

Alabama estate snapshot

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeSet locallyThe statewide statutory fee for a grant of letters of administration is $45.00 (Ala. Code § 12-19-90(a)(2)), including three certified copies and final settlement when not more than 10 pages. Ala. Code § 12-19-90(d) preserves county/local fee laws for judges of probate, so a particular county may add local charges on top of the statewide figure.
Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.Ala. Code § 43-2-848(a) allows reasonable compensation subject to a ceiling of two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the value of all property received and under the personal representative’s possession and control PLUS two and one-half percent (2.5%) of all disbursements. The ceiling therefore applies to receipts and disbursements, not to the whole estate value. Extraordinary services may be allowed additionally (§ 43-2-848(b)), and a will or written agreement can vary the amount (§ 43-2-848(c)–(d)).

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

How Alabama executor compensation works

In Alabama, the personal representative (executor) is the person the court appoints, or the will nominates, to administer the estate. Alabama compensation is governed by state statute and, where the statute permits, by the terms of the will or a court order, so the lawful Alabama fee is whatever those authorities set — not a national rule of thumb.

The calculator above applies Alabama's reviewed statutory rule to the compensable estate value you enter. The Alabama figure does not include extraordinary fees — services beyond routine administration (such as litigation, tax elections, or real-property management) that the court may approve separately on top of the ordinary compensation.

In Alabama, the compensable amount is measured against the money the estate actually received and paid out, so two Alabama estates with the same headline size can produce different lawful fees when what they are made of differs. Enter the figure that matches that basis rather than the gross number on the first account statement, or the Alabama result will not reflect the rule the statute actually applies.

If the Alabama will names a specific compensation amount or formula, that term controls unless a beneficiary or the representative petitions the court for modification. When no will exists, or the will is silent on the point, the Alabama statutory rule becomes the presumptive measure of reasonable compensation for the work.

No Alabama compensation figure appears here, because the state serves its code as an application rather than as text

Alabama’s compensation provisions sit in Title 43 of the Code of Alabama. The state’s own publication point responded on the date below — HTTP 200, roughly 59 KB — and contained exactly one navigable link, pointing back at itself. The titles, chapters and sections are assembled in the browser after load, so a request for the code returns the application that would display the code rather than the code.

This is the same failure mode as South Dakota and a different one from Hawaii, and the distinction matters when reading a blank on this site. Hawaii refuses the request. Alabama answers it, successfully, with something that is not the law. A monitoring check that only records status codes would report Alabama as healthy and this page as complete.

Compensation is a particularly bad figure to infer for Alabama, because the secondary summaries that circulate describe a percentage-of-receipts-and-disbursements structure rather than a percentage of the estate. A structure of that shape produces very different answers depending on how much money moved through the estate, not on how large the estate was — so a number restated without its base would be actively misleading rather than merely unverified.

The probate court of the county in which the estate is administered applies the current Title 43 provisions to the accounting actually filed, and is the authority for both the rate and the base it is applied to.

Authority that would settle this: Code of Alabama, tit. 43 (compensation of personal representatives). The access attempt described above was made on 2026-09-17. Nothing is quoted from it, because nothing could be read from it; a figure restated from a secondary summary would look like a sourced answer without being one.

Alabama compensation map

Which figure the Alabama fee rule actually measures

A percentage is not a fee answer until its base is known. This Alabama map identifies the compensation standard and the accounting figure it uses, while keeping court approval and extraordinary work outside an invented total.

QuestionRecorded Alabama answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Summary distribution of small estate (Ala. Code §§ 43-2-690 to 43-2-692)Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?personal probate property only; gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?No numeric ceiling verifiedUse the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?30 days after death; 180 days; Claims must be presented within six months after the grant of letters, OR within five months from the date of first publication of notice, whichever is the later to occur; claims not so presented and filed are forever barred (Ala. Code § 43-2-350). The six-month period runs from the grant of letters (appointment), so the modelled figure is 180 days from the grant, extended when the publication-based five-month period ends later.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?$45 is the recorded statewide amount.Ask the Probate Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Ala. Code § 43-2-848(a) allows reasonable compensation subject to a ceiling of two and one-half percent (2.5%) of the value of all property received and under the personal representative’s possession and control PLUS two and one-half percent (2.5%) of all disbursements. The ceiling therefore applies to receipts and disbursements, not to the whole estate value. Extraordinary services may be allowed additionally (§ 43-2-848(b)), and a will or written agreement can vary the amount (§ 43-2-848(c)–(d)). The relevant base is money received and paid out during administration.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Compensation record

The Alabama fee record, band by band

This is the registry view of the compensation rule, separate from the calculator result. It shows whether a rate schedule exists and what accounting base the schedule names. A blank band is not permission to borrow a percentage from another state.

Compensation bandRateRead with
All value above the prior band2.5%money received and paid out during administration

Case-file context

Keep the Alabama answer with its neighboring conditions

A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Alabama descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.

Route context

Alabama offers summary distribution of a small estate (Ala. Code §§ 43-2-690 to 43-2-692) for personal-property-only estates whose value does not exceed a CPI-indexed "small estate amount" (§ 43-2-691), heard in the county Probate Court. The statewide grant-of-letters fee is $45.00, executor compensation is capped at 2.5% of receipts plus 2.5% of disbursements, and creditor claims run six months from the grant of letters (or five months from first publication, whichever is later).

Alabama allows summary distribution where the decedent owned no real property and the estate value does not exceed the "small estate amount" — a CPI-indexed sum of the homestead, exempt-property, and family allowances (Ala. Code § 43-2-691), adjusted every three years under § 43-8-116. Petition may proceed at least 30 days after publication of notice of its filing. Because the operative indexed figure is an administrative publication not sourced here, the threshold is published as UNKNOWN with its mechanism captured.

Cost context

The statewide statutory fee for a grant of letters of administration is $45.00 (Ala. Code § 12-19-90(a)(2)), including three certified copies and final settlement when not more than 10 pages. Ala. Code § 12-19-90(d) preserves county/local fee laws for judges of probate, so a particular county may add local charges on top of the statewide figure.

$45 is the recorded statewide amount.

Deadline context

180 days; Claims must be presented within six months after the grant of letters, OR within five months from the date of first publication of notice, whichever is the later to occur; claims not so presented and filed are forever barred (Ala. Code § 43-2-350). The six-month period runs from the grant of letters (appointment), so the modelled figure is 180 days from the grant, extended when the publication-based five-month period ends later.

  • Small estate threshold is a CPI-indexed administrative figure (§ 43-8-116) — published as UNKNOWN with base allowances ($15,000 homestead etc.) and mechanism captured; the current operative dollar amount must be read from the AOC/Treasurer publication.
  • Filing fee $45.00 is the statewide floor; § 12-19-90(d) lets counties add local charges, so a county-specific total may exceed $45.00.

Court-material note: Probate is heard in the county Probate Court. Filing fees for the grant of letters are a $45.00 statewide figure (§ 12-19-90) but § 12-19-90(d) expressly preserves local fee laws, so individual counties may add charges. Alabama publishes no single statewide small-estate affidavit. The summary-distribution petition is filed with the Probate Court of the county of residence, and each probate court issues its own form, so the county court is the place to obtain it.

No numeric shortcut is available for Alabama

This registry does not establish a numeric Alabama ceiling from an accepted primary source. The safe next step is to follow the reason and source lane on this page, then ask the Probate Court for the current rule rather than importing a neighboring state\'s amount.

Next evidence to collect

Bring the stated accounting base and the will or court instructions to the compensation discussion.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

Probate is heard in the county Probate Court. Filing fees for the grant of letters are a $45.00 statewide figure (§ 12-19-90) but § 12-19-90(d) expressly preserves local fee laws, so individual counties may add charges.

Alabama publishes no single statewide small-estate affidavit. The summary-distribution petition is filed with the Probate Court of the county of residence, and each probate court issues its own form, so the county court is the place to obtain it.

Source trail

Records used by this Alabama map

The figure the Alabama schedule is applied to

The rate is only half of the answer; the other half is the number the rate is applied to, and in Alabama that number is specific. The reviewed rule measures compensation against the receipts-and-disbursements. The 2.5% + 2.5% ceiling is applied separately to (i) property received and under the PR’s control and (ii) disbursements — NOT to gross estate value. Applying it to total estate value would over- or under-state the cap.

Entering a different figure — the gross value on a bank statement, the net estate after debts, or the total that passed to the heirs — produces a Alabama number the rule does not support, even when the percentage is applied correctly. The base is the part most often got wrong.

Compensation source

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.

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