Missouri personal representative compensation
Missouri publishes a minimum percentage schedule and allows additional reasonable compensation.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised .
The calculator applies the Missouri schedule to the value you enter, measured against the figures shown in the estate's court accounting. RSMo § 473.153.1 makes this schedule a minimum: the court adds whatever more makes the pay reasonable and adequate, and the representative does not need to have performed extraordinary services to receive it. Under RSMo § 473.153.1 a fee the will provides is the representative’s full compensation unless, before qualifying, the representative files in court a written instrument renouncing it; the schedule then sets the minimum.
RSMo 473.153.1 calls its schedule “the minimum compensation” for a single personal representative and applies it to “the value of the personal property administered and of the proceeds of all real property sold under order of the probate court.” Land that passes without a court-ordered sale is outside that base. The personal property is valued “at the time of disbursement or distribution thereof,” not at the date of death, unless the court has to allow compensation earlier or to a representative who has been replaced, when it may fix fair market value at the time of the allowance.
Above the floor, the court “shall allow such additional compensation as will make the compensation of the personal representative reasonable and adequate,” and the statute adds that extraordinary services are “not necessary to entitle him to such additional compensation.” A will that sets the fee replaces the schedule entirely, unless the representative files a written instrument in the court renouncing the will’s provision before qualifying.
Two or more joint or successor representatives share one aggregate, reasonable fee, capped at the lesser of twice the scheduled minimum or five percent of the personal property administered and the proceeds of real property sold under order of the probate division. The cap falls away where possession of real property was taken under a court order but the land was not sold, or where extraordinary services were performed. The court divides the total by the services each one actually rendered, or as they agree.
Subsection 3 gives attorneys working for the estate at the representative’s request the same schedule as their own minimum, again with reasonable additional compensation where warranted. Where the representative is an attorney, no allowance is made for legal services performed by him or at his instance unless the will or a court order authorizes them, or every heir and devisee whose rights may be adversely affected consents.
Source: RSMo § 473.153 (compensation of personal representatives and attorneys), read from the enacting state’s own official publication on 2026-10-13. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Each rate applies only to its own band of the compensable figure:
| 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.
Revised Statutes of Missouri, Personal Representative Compensation
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.
Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Missouri source list · how sources are checked · report a correction