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Maryland personal representative compensation

Maryland executor fee calculator

The court-selected commission may not exceed 9% of the first $20,000 of property subject to administration plus $1,800 and 3.6% of the excess over $20,000. A will may provide a larger measure; the statute calls compensation reasonable and permits renunciation. It states no separate extraordinary-services percentage.

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.

Asset 1

Asset 2

Your working estimate

Maryland estate snapshot

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeMore information neededProbate fees assessed on the value of the probate estate2 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 compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.The court-selected commission may not exceed 9% of the first $20,000 of property subject to administration plus $1,800 and 3.6% of the excess over $20,000. A will may provide a larger measure; the statute calls compensation reasonable and permits renunciation. It states no separate extraordinary-services percentage.

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 Maryland executor compensation works

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

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

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

Maryland compensation map

Which figure the Maryland fee rule actually measures

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

QuestionRecorded Maryland answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Small-estate administrationConfirm 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; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$50,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?No waiting-period number verified; The general bar uses the earlier of a death-based outer period and an individual-notice period, while publication is weekly for three weeks and special claims have separate rules; one days value would misstate the framework.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 Orphans’ Court / Register of Wills about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?The court-selected commission may not exceed 9% of the first $20,000 of property subject to administration plus $1,800 and 3.6% of the excess over $20,000. A will may provide a larger measure; the statute calls compensation reasonable and permits renunciation. It states no separate extraordinary-services percentage. The relevant base is gross probate property.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Compensation record

The Maryland 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 $20,0009%gross probate property
Above the prior band3.6%gross probate property

Case-file context

Keep the Maryland 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 Maryland 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

Maryland’s small-estate administration is a threshold-based court track through the Register of Wills. Modified administration is a separate consent-based track for qualifying solvent estates, with election, report, and distribution deadlines rather than a small-estate cap.

Property subject to Maryland administration may use small-estate administration at $50,000 or less, or $100,000 or less when the surviving spouse is sole legatee or heir. Value is date-of-death fair market value less debts of record secured by the property to the extent insurance does not pay the secured debt. This court petition is distinct from modified administration, which is not a small-estate threshold track.

Cost context

The statewide probate fee is $0 below $50,000; $100 from $50,000 to below $100,000; $200 from $100,000 to below $500,000; $1,000 from $500,000 to below $1 million; $2,000 from $1 million to below $2.5 million; $5,000 from $2.5 million to below $5 million; $7,500 from $5 million to below $7.5 million; $10,000 from $7.5 million to below $10 million; and $10,000 plus 0.02% of excess over $10 million thereafter, with no stated cap.

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

Deadline context

The general bar uses the earlier of a death-based outer period and an individual-notice period, while publication is weekly for three weeks and special claims have separate rules; one days value would misstate the framework.

  • Maryland statute pages have no usable currentness marker.
  • The final probate-fee tier cannot be safely represented by the existing FilingFeeComponent union because it is 0.02% only of excess over $10 million.

Court-material note: Maryland publishes separate statewide packets for small estates and modified administration. The Register of Wills receives filings and the Orphans’ Court exercises probate jurisdiction; the circuit court hears specified appeals.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Maryland amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Maryland ceiling is $50,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $37,500 sits below the Maryland figure and $62,500 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 Maryland counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Maryland ceilingWhat it does not decide
$37,500Below $50,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$62,500Above $50,000Whether 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

Maryland publishes separate statewide packets for small estates and modified administration.

The Register of Wills receives filings and the Orphans’ Court exercises probate jurisdiction; the circuit court hears specified appeals.

Source trail

Records used by this Maryland map

The figure the Maryland 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 Maryland that number is specific. The reviewed rule measures compensation against the property subject to administration. Apply the ceiling to the statutory property-subject-to-administration base, not to receipts, gross estate generally, or the probate-fee accounting base.

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 Maryland 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.

Continue in Maryland