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Ohio personal representative compensation

Ohio executor fee calculator

Ohio applies a percentage schedule — 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $300,000, and 2% above $400,000 — to personal property and the proceeds of real property that is sold (O.R.C. 2113.35(A)). Section 2113.35(B) then allows a separate 1% fee on the value of real property that is not sold, and a further 1% on certain non-probate property that would have been includable for Ohio estate tax (excluding joint-and-survivorship property). Because that 1% real-property component rests on a base the asset list does not supply on its own, the schedule above is not applied to a single combined figure.

Sources reviewed August 7, 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

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Your working estimate

Ohio estate snapshot

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeSet locallyUse the selected county probate court schedule for an exact filing total.
Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.Ohio applies a percentage schedule — 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $300,000, and 2% above $400,000 — to personal property and the proceeds of real property that is sold (O.R.C. 2113.35(A)). Section 2113.35(B) then allows a separate 1% fee on the value of real property that is not sold, and a further 1% on certain non-probate property that would have been includable for Ohio estate tax (excluding joint-and-survivorship property). Because that 1% real-property component rests on a base the asset list does not supply on its own, the schedule above is not applied to a single combined figure.

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.

Need the full Ohio accounting path?

Ohio’s ordinary schedule and its two separate 1% components use different accounting bases. Use the dedicated Ohio executor compensation calculator to see each line item instead of applying one percentage to the gross estate.

How Ohio executor compensation works

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

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

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

Ohio pays its executors on four different bases, and only one of them is the probate estate

R.C. 2113.35 is a percentage schedule, but the percentages are applied to several distinct pools rather than to one estate value. Subsection (A) allows fees “upon the amount of all the personal property, including the income from the personal property, that is received and accounted for by them and upon the proceeds of real property that is sold” — four per cent on the first $100,000, three per cent above $100,000 and not exceeding $400,000, and two per cent above $400,000.

Subsection (B) adds two more pools at a flat one per cent each. The first is “the value of real property that is not sold.” The second is the one that surprises people: one per cent “on the value of all property that is not subject to administration and that would have been includable for purposes of computing the Ohio estate tax, except joint and survivorship property, had the decedent died on December 31, 2012.” Ohio repealed its estate tax for deaths after that date, but the repealed statute survives here purely as a definition of which non-probate assets count — and joint and survivorship property is carved out of it.

The valuation rule in subsection (C) is not uniform either: real property sold is valued at “the gross proceeds of sale,” while everything else is valued at fair market value “as of the date of death of the decedent.” A sale at a price above or below date-of-death value therefore changes the fee on that parcel, and does so in only one direction.

Two limits close the section. The fees “shall be received in full compensation for all their ordinary services,” so ordinary work is not billable on top of the schedule. And under subsection (D), if the probate court finds after a hearing that the executor or administrator “has not faithfully discharged the duties,” the court “may deny the executor or administrator any compensation whatsoever or may allow the executor or administrator the reduced compensation that the court thinks proper.” The schedule is an entitlement for work done properly, not for holding the appointment.

This section covers ordinary services only. Extraordinary services, attorney fees, and any fee a will itself directs are governed elsewhere and are not computed from these percentages.

Source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.35 (commissions), eff. Sept. 29, 2015, read from the enacting state’s own published code on 2026-09-17. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.

Ohio compensation map

Which figure the Ohio fee rule actually measures

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

QuestionRecorded Ohio answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Release from 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; gross value for this route.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$35,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?No universal waiting period stated; Ohio bars creditor claims six months after the decedent's death (O.R.C. 2117.06(B), (C)). The period runs from death, not from publication, actual notice, or appointment of the executor or administrator.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 Probate Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Ohio applies a percentage schedule — 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $300,000, and 2% above $400,000 — to personal property and the proceeds of real property that is sold (O.R.C. 2113.35(A)). Section 2113.35(B) then allows a separate 1% fee on the value of real property that is not sold, and a further 1% on certain non-probate property that would have been includable for Ohio estate tax (excluding joint-and-survivorship property). Because that 1% real-property component rests on a base the asset list does not supply on its own, the schedule above is not applied to a single combined figure. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Compensation record

The Ohio 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 $100,0004%the estate accounting
The next band through $400,0003%the estate accounting
Above the prior band2%the estate accounting

Case-file context

Keep the Ohio 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 Ohio 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

Ohio calls its simplified procedure release from administration and provides a higher limit when a surviving spouse receives the entire estate.

The ordinary ceiling is $35,000. It rises to $100,000 when the surviving spouse is entitled to all estate assets. A separate, smaller procedure — summary release from administration under O.R.C. 2113.031 — is available to a person who paid the funeral and burial expenses when the assets do not exceed the lesser of $5,000 or those expenses, or to a surviving spouse up to the statutory support allowance plus up to $5,000 for funeral and burial.

Cost context

Use the selected county probate court schedule for an exact filing total.

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

Deadline context

Ohio bars creditor claims six months after the decedent's death (O.R.C. 2117.06(B), (C)). The period runs from death, not from publication, actual notice, or appointment of the executor or administrator.

  • Actual filing totals vary by probate court.
  • The simplified procedure requires a court application.
  • Summary release from administration (O.R.C. 2113.031) is a distinct, smaller track from the $35,000/$100,000 release from administration: it is limited to the lesser of $5,000 or the decedent's funeral and burial expenses for a person who paid them, or, for a surviving spouse, the statutory support allowance plus up to $5,000 for funeral and burial. Form 5.10 is the application.
  • Executor compensation is not a single percentage of one figure. O.R.C. 2113.35(A) pays 4%/3%/2% on personal property and realty sold, while subsection (B) adds 1% on real property that is not sold and 1% on certain non-probate property, so the total depends on the estate accounting rather than on the probate value alone.
  • Creditor claims are barred six months after the date of death under O.R.C. 2117.06(B), and that period runs whether or not an executor or administrator is appointed within it.

Court-material note: Ohio adopts statewide standard probate forms, but each county probate court sets its own filing charges and local rules.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Ohio amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Ohio ceiling is $35,000, 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, $26,300 sits below the Ohio figure and $43,800 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 Ohio counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Ohio ceilingWhat it does not decide
$26,300Below $35,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$43,800Above $35,000Whether 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

Ohio adopts statewide standard probate forms, but each county probate court sets its own filing charges and local rules.

Source trail

Records used by this Ohio map

The Ohio commission schedule, band by band

Ohio 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 figureRate
on the first $100,0004%
on the next $300,0003%
on the balance above $400,0002%

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 Ohio 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 Ohio 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.

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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