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Iowa personal representative compensation

Iowa executor fee calculator

Iowa Code 633.197 sets a real statutory maximum-commission schedule on the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory: 6% of the first $1,000, 4% of the overplus between $1,000 and $5,000, and 2% of all sums over $5,000, received as full compensation for all ordinary services. The court may allow only reasonable fees not in excess of these commissions. Gross assets for this section exclude life insurance proceeds unless payable to the decedent's estate. Extraordinary services may be separately allowed by the court.

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

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

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Your working estimate

Iowa estate snapshot

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeMore information neededCourt costs in a decedent's estate (ch. 633 or ch. 635)2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.
Scheduled executor compensation$0Iowa Code 633.197 sets a real statutory maximum-commission schedule on the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory: 6% of the first $1,000, 4% of the overplus between $1,000 and $5,000, and 2% of all sums over $5,000, received as full compensation for all ordinary services. The court may allow only reasonable fees not in excess of these commissions. Gross assets for this section exclude life insurance proceeds unless payable to the decedent's estate. Extraordinary services may be separately allowed by the court.

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 Iowa executor compensation works

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

The calculator above applies Iowa's reviewed statutory rule to the compensable estate value you enter. The Iowa 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 Iowa, the compensable amount is measured against the gross value of the probate estate, so two Iowa 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 Iowa result will not reflect the rule the statute actually applies.

If the Iowa 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 Iowa statutory rule becomes the presumptive measure of reasonable compensation for the work.

Iowa compensation map

Which figure the Iowa fee rule actually measures

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

QuestionRecorded Iowa answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Administration of small estates (Iowa Code ch. 635)Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?probate property within the rule's stated scope; gross value for this route.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$200,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?No waiting-period number verified; Iowa's general nonclaim bar (Iowa Code 633.410(1)) runs to the later of two separately-triggered deadlines: four months after the date of the second publication of the notice to creditors, or one month after service of notice by ordinary mail to a reasonably ascertainable claimant. Medical-assistance (Medicaid estate-recovery) claims have a separate six-month bar from electronic notice (633.410(2)). Because the operative bar is the later of two triggers and cannot be reduced to one honest day count, it is left unknown and the triggers are itemized in deadlineFramework.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.Ask the District Court (Probate) about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Iowa Code 633.197 sets a real statutory maximum-commission schedule on the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory: 6% of the first $1,000, 4% of the overplus between $1,000 and $5,000, and 2% of all sums over $5,000, received as full compensation for all ordinary services. The court may allow only reasonable fees not in excess of these commissions. Gross assets for this section exclude life insurance proceeds unless payable to the decedent's estate. Extraordinary services may be separately allowed by the court. The relevant base is gross probate property.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Compensation record

The Iowa 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
Up to $1,0006%gross probate property
The next band through $5,0004%gross probate property
Above the prior band2%gross probate property

Case-file context

Keep the Iowa 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 Iowa 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

Iowa administers small estates under chapter 635 when gross probate assets are within the statutory cap, in the District Court. Executor commissions and probate court costs are both fixed by statewide statute as percentages of the estate's gross value.

Iowa Code 635.1 permits small-estate administration when the gross value of the probate assets of a decedent subject to Iowa jurisdiction does not exceed two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). The clerk issues letters of appointment to the proposed personal representative; chapter 633 applies except as chapter 635 provides. Section 635.7 measures the cap on the gross value of probate assets and auto-converts the estate to full chapter 633 administration if that value exceeds the 635.1 cap. The count is gross probate assets (real and personal), not net of debts.

Cost context

Iowa levies a statewide statutory probate court cost equal to two-tenths of one percent (0.2%) of the value of the probate assets listed in the report and inventory (Iowa Code 633.31(3)(a)), applied to estates administered under chapter 633 or chapter 635. Costs are not charged on non-probate assets (joint-tenancy property, lifetime transfers, life insurance/annuities/IRAs/retirement/TOD/POD payable to non-estate beneficiaries, and out-of-state real estate). Fixed clerk charges also apply (e.g., $15 probate of will without administration).

1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.

Deadline context

Iowa's general nonclaim bar (Iowa Code 633.410(1)) runs to the later of two separately-triggered deadlines: four months after the date of the second publication of the notice to creditors, or one month after service of notice by ordinary mail to a reasonably ascertainable claimant. Medical-assistance (Medicaid estate-recovery) claims have a separate six-month bar from electronic notice (633.410(2)). Because the operative bar is the later of two triggers and cannot be reduced to one honest day count, it is left unknown and the triggers are itemized in deadlineFramework.

  • 633.31(3)(a) is a percentage of probate-inventory value, so the app must treat the Iowa filing/court cost as value-dependent (tiered/per-value), never as a flat fee.
  • The 633.197 commission base is gross probate-inventory assets excluding non-estate-payable life insurance; do not apply the schedule to a net or all-asset figure.

Court-material note: Iowa probate is handled in the District Court; there is no separate probate court. Iowa court costs are a statewide statutory percentage (0.2%) rather than a county-set flat fee - unusually uniform across the state.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Iowa amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Iowa ceiling is $200,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $150,000 sits below the Iowa figure and $250,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Iowa counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Iowa ceilingWhat it does not decide
$150,000Below $200,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$250,000Above $200,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

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

Iowa probate is handled in the District Court; there is no separate probate court.

Iowa court costs are a statewide statutory percentage (0.2%) rather than a county-set flat fee - unusually uniform across the state.

Source trail

Records used by this Iowa map

The figure the Iowa 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 Iowa that number is specific. The reviewed rule measures compensation against the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory. Apply the 6/4/2% schedule to the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory, excluding life insurance proceeds unless payable to the decedent's estate (Iowa Code 633.197(2)).

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 Iowa number the rule does not support, even when the percentage is applied correctly. The base is the part most often got wrong.

How the Iowa schedule composes, worked through

Each band applies its own rate to its own slice of the gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory, and the compensation is the sum of the slices — not a single rate on the whole figure. Worked at two representative amounts, the Iowa schedule breaks down as follows.

$300,000 gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory
Band of the baseRateCompensation
on the first $1,0006%$60
on the next $4,0004%$160
on the balance above $5,0002%$5,900
Total on this base$6,120
$800,000 gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory
Band of the baseRateCompensation
on the first $1,0006%$60
on the next $4,0004%$160
on the balance above $5,0002%$15,900
Total on this base$16,120

These figures are illustrations of the schedule at two round numbers, not a quote for any real estate: the operative amount depends on the actual gross assets of the estate listed in the probate inventory the Iowa accounting establishes, and a court may allow more for extraordinary services or less where a will or agreement fixes a different figure.

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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