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Louisiana personal representative compensation

Louisiana executor fee calculator

Absent a testamentary provision or agreement with the surviving spouse and all competent heirs or legatees, an administrator or executor receives 2.5% of the amount of the inventory. The court may increase it on a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate. A judicial small succession separately caps its succession representative at 5% of gross assets.

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

Louisiana estate snapshot

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeSet locallyFor a judicial small succession, court costs are one-half of those in a comparable non-small succession. District-court clerk fees may be lower than statutory ceilings and depend on initialization, pages, exhibits, indexing, issuance, service, and parish-specific authority, so confirm the advance deposit with the parish clerk.
Scheduled executor compensationCase accounting neededEnter the compensable value above and this schedule is applied to it, band by band.Absent a testamentary provision or agreement with the surviving spouse and all competent heirs or legatees, an administrator or executor receives 2.5% of the amount of the inventory. The court may increase it on a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate. A judicial small succession separately caps its succession representative at 5% of gross assets.

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 Louisiana executor compensation works

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

The calculator above applies Louisiana's reviewed statutory rule to the compensable estate value you enter. The Louisiana 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 Louisiana, the compensable amount is measured against the figures shown in the estate's court accounting, so two Louisiana 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 Louisiana result will not reflect the rule the statute actually applies.

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

Louisiana compensation map

Which figure the Louisiana fee rule actually measures

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

QuestionRecorded Louisiana answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Small succession affidavitConfirm 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; Louisiana uses ordinary prescription plus succession claim-presentation and suspension rules rather than a single common-law probate nonclaim period. Articles 3241, 3242, and 3245 do not establish one publication/appointment/outer deadline that can be reduced to days.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule.Ask the District Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Absent a testamentary provision or agreement with the surviving spouse and all competent heirs or legatees, an administrator or executor receives 2.5% of the amount of the inventory. The court may increase it on a proper showing that the usual commission is inadequate. A judicial small succession separately caps its succession representative at 5% of gross assets. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Compensation record

The Louisiana 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%the estate accounting

Case-file context

Keep the Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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

Louisiana administers a succession in District Court. Its civil-law framework uses succession representatives, optional independent administration, and judgments of possession; the small-succession affidavit can avoid a judicial opening in defined cases.

A small succession is generally $200,000 or less in gross value at death for a decedent domiciled in Louisiana ($125,000 for an ancillary succession of a non-domiciliary); a succession whose death occurred at least 20 years before the affidavit may qualify regardless of value. Judicial opening may be unnecessary for listed intestate cases and limited testate cases. Louisiana immovables may be described in an intestate affidavit, while the testate no-opening route requires no Louisiana immovable property and waiver of probate of the testament.

Cost context

For a judicial small succession, court costs are one-half of those in a comparable non-small succession. District-court clerk fees may be lower than statutory ceilings and depend on initialization, pages, exhibits, indexing, issuance, service, and parish-specific authority, so confirm the advance deposit with the parish clerk.

No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule.

Deadline context

Louisiana uses ordinary prescription plus succession claim-presentation and suspension rules rather than a single common-law probate nonclaim period. Articles 3241, 3242, and 3245 do not establish one publication/appointment/outer deadline that can be reduced to days.

  • No single statewide filing total exists; parish clerk advance deposits and document counts control.
  • No common-law-style creditor nonclaim deadline was inferred from the succession claim articles.
  • No independent verifier has re-derived the civil-law characterization.

Court-material note: No statewide small-succession affidavit or statewide probate opening-fee total was located on the Louisiana Supreme Court site; parish clerks provide filing requirements and advance-cost deposits. Louisiana terminology is succession, succession representative, testament, independent administration, and judgment of possession—not a forced common-law executor/probate model.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Louisiana amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Louisiana 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

No statewide small-succession affidavit or statewide probate opening-fee total was located on the Louisiana Supreme Court site; parish clerks provide filing requirements and advance-cost deposits.

Louisiana terminology is succession, succession representative, testament, independent administration, and judgment of possession—not a forced common-law executor/probate model.

Source trail

Records used by this Louisiana map

  • La. C.C.P. art. 3421Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Small Successions Defined; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3431Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Judicial Opening Unnecessary; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3432Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Small Succession Affidavit Contents; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3422Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Small Succession Costs and Compensation; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3351Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Succession Representative Compensation; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. R.S. 13:841Louisiana Revised Statutes, District Court Clerk Fees; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3242Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Response to Submitted Claim; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3241Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Presenting Claim Against Succession; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3245Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Formal Proof and Prescription; reviewed August 9, 2026
  • La. C.C.P. art. 3396Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Independent Administration Definitions; reviewed August 9, 2026

The figure the Louisiana 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 Louisiana that number is specific. The reviewed rule measures compensation against the amount of the inventory. Use the inventory amount stated by art. 3351; do not substitute gross assets, net estate, receipts, or distributions.

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

The Louisiana schedule is a flat rate: one percentage applied to the whole accountable figure, with no bands to cross. That makes the arithmetic simple and puts all the weight on the base above — get the base right and the Louisiana figure follows from it.

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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