Missouri personal representative compensation
Missouri publishes a minimum percentage schedule and allows additional reasonable compensation.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
In Missouri, the personal representative (executor) is the person the court appoints, or the will nominates, to administer the estate. Missouri compensation is governed by state statute and, where the statute permits, by the terms of the will or a court order, so the lawful Missouri fee is whatever those authorities set — not a national rule of thumb.
The calculator above applies Missouri's reviewed statutory rule to the compensable estate value you enter. The Missouri 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 Missouri, the compensable amount is measured against the figures shown in the estate's court accounting, so two Missouri 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 Missouri result will not reflect the rule the statute actually applies.
If the Missouri 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 Missouri statutory rule becomes the presumptive measure of reasonable compensation for the work.
Missouri compensation map
A percentage is not a fee answer until its base is known. This Missouri map identifies the compensation standard and the accounting figure it uses, while keeping court approval and extraordinary work outside an invented total.
| Question | Recorded Missouri answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Small estate affidavit | 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; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $40,000 | Establish unsecured debt before treating the screen as decided. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; Missouri bars creditor claims six months after first published notice of letters, extended to the later of that date or two months from actual notice when a creditor is individually notified, and in all events one year after death. The periods run from different events, so they are published separately. | 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 Probate Division of Circuit Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | Missouri publishes a minimum percentage schedule and allows additional reasonable compensation. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Compensation record
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 band | Rate | Read with |
|---|---|---|
| Up to $5,000 | 5% | the estate accounting |
| The next band through $25,000 | 4% | the estate accounting |
| The next band through $100,000 | 3% | the estate accounting |
| The next band through $400,000 | 2.75% | the estate accounting |
| The next band through $1,000,000 | 2.5% | the estate accounting |
| Above the prior band | 2% | the estate accounting |
Case-file context
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Missouri descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
Missouri permits a small-estate affidavit after 30 days for estates not exceeding $40,000 after liens, debts, and encumbrances.
The net estate must not exceed $40,000. A bond may be required, and estates above $15,000 generally require notice to creditors.
When letters are applied for, section 488.012 lists a graduated fee from $75 below $10,000 to $365 above $500,000. The statute states these amounts apply before adjustment by the supreme court, which sets the operative figures by rule.
1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.
Missouri bars creditor claims six months after first published notice of letters, extended to the later of that date or two months from actual notice when a creditor is individually notified, and in all events one year after death. The periods run from different events, so they are published separately.
Court-material note: Missouri publishes no statewide small-estate affidavit form. The probate division of the circuit court in the county of residence supplies the affidavit and states its local requirements. The Missouri Courts self-help probate page did not respond when this record was reviewed, so no link is published rather than publishing one that may not resolve.
Arithmetic illustration
The recorded Missouri ceiling is $40,000, 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, $30,000 sits below the Missouri figure and $50,000 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 Missouri counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Missouri ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $30,000 | Below $40,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $50,000 | Above $40,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Official material
Missouri publishes no court artifact in this registry. Missouri publishes no statewide small-estate affidavit form. The probate division of the circuit court in the county of residence supplies the affidavit and states its local requirements.
Missouri publishes no statewide small-estate affidavit form. The probate division of the circuit court in the county of residence supplies the affidavit and states its local requirements.
The Missouri Courts self-help probate page did not respond when this record was reviewed, so no link is published rather than publishing one that may not resolve.
Source trail
Missouri does not set one flat percentage. The rate steps down as the compensable figure grows, and each rate applies only to its own band — so the whole figure is never multiplied by the top rate or the bottom one. The published bands are:
| Band of the compensable figure | Rate |
|---|---|
| on the first $5,000 | 5% |
| on the next $20,000 | 4% |
| on the next $75,000 | 3% |
| on the next $300,000 | 2.75% |
| on the next $600,000 | 2.5% |
| on the balance above $1,000,000 | 2% |
The bands are read against the figure the estate’s court accounting establishes, which is not the same as the gross value on an opening statement. That distinction changes the Missouri answer: two estates of the same headline size produce different lawful commissions when the figure the schedule actually measures differs between them.
No single band is priced for you here, because Missouri keys the schedule to a figure the estate’s own accounting establishes rather than to a number an asset list can supply. Use the calculator above once you have that figure, and treat any court-approved extraordinary compensation, or a fee a will fixes, as separate from this ordinary schedule.
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Reviewed source note: On the first $ 5,000, 5 percent; On the next 20,000, 4 percent; On the next 75,000, 3 percent; On the next 300,000, 2 3/4 percent; On the next 600,000, 2 1/2 percent; On all over 1,000,000, 2 percent.