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Texas personal representative compensation

Texas executor fee calculator

Estates Code § 352.002 entitles the executor/administrator to a 5% commission on all amounts actually received or paid out in cash in the administration, but the aggregate commission may not exceed 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate. Cash on hand or in accounts at death, life-insurance proceeds, and cash paid to heirs/legatees are excluded from the commission base. Section 352.003 permits alternative reasonable compensation for unusual efforts.

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

Texas estate snapshot

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeSet locallyTexas has no single statewide opening probate filing fee. Government/Local Government Code fixes only itemized per-service fees; the amount to open an administration is a consolidated charge set by each county clerk, so it varies by county.
Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.Estates Code § 352.002 entitles the executor/administrator to a 5% commission on all amounts actually received or paid out in cash in the administration, but the aggregate commission may not exceed 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate. Cash on hand or in accounts at death, life-insurance proceeds, and cash paid to heirs/legatees are excluded from the commission base. Section 352.003 permits alternative reasonable compensation for unusual efforts.

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 Texas executor compensation works

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

The calculator above applies Texas's reviewed statutory rule to the compensable estate value you enter. The Texas 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 Texas, the compensable amount is measured against the money the estate actually received and paid out, so two Texas 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 Texas result will not reflect the rule the statute actually applies.

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

Texas compensation map

Which figure the Texas fee rule actually measures

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

QuestionRecorded Texas answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Small estate affidavit (Estates Code ch. 205)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; gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$75,000Establish unsecured debt before treating the screen as decided.
What is the time or deadline record?30 days after death; No deadline is recorded here: Texas creditor deadlines run from multiple independent triggers (permissive notice by publication, required actual notice to secured/known creditors, and a claim-presentation window) set out across Estates Code ch. 308 and ch. 355; the operative periods depend on the notice type and are not a single statewide day count.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 Statutory Probate Court / County Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Estates Code § 352.002 entitles the executor/administrator to a 5% commission on all amounts actually received or paid out in cash in the administration, but the aggregate commission may not exceed 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate. Cash on hand or in accounts at death, life-insurance proceeds, and cash paid to heirs/legatees are excluded from the commission base. Section 352.003 permits alternative reasonable compensation for unusual efforts. The relevant base is money received and paid out during administration.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Compensation record

The Texas 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.

Texas has no tier table this site can price from the accepted record. The controlling record is Tex. Est. Code § 352.002; read its quoted standard and ask the court how the fee is presented for approval.

Case-file context

Keep the Texas 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 Texas 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

In Texas, probate is heard by a statutory probate court (in the largest counties) or by the county court / county court at law elsewhere. Intestate estates under $75,000 (excluding homestead and exempt property) may use a small estate affidavit; opening filing fees are set county-by-county.

Available only where the decedent died INTESTATE. Distributees may collect the estate by affidavit if 30 days have elapsed since death, no personal representative is pending or appointed, the estate assets (excluding homestead and exempt property) exceed known liabilities (excluding those secured by homestead/exempt property), and the value of estate assets excluding homestead and exempt property does not exceed $75,000.

Cost context

Texas has no single statewide opening probate filing fee. Government/Local Government Code fixes only itemized per-service fees; the amount to open an administration is a consolidated charge set by each county clerk, so it varies by county.

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

Deadline context

No deadline is recorded here: Texas creditor deadlines run from multiple independent triggers (permissive notice by publication, required actual notice to secured/known creditors, and a claim-presentation window) set out across Estates Code ch. 308 and ch. 355; the operative periods depend on the notice type and are not a single statewide day count.

Court-material note: Texas does not publish a single statewide set of fill-in probate forms; many counties require an attorney to open an administration and publish their own local forms and fee schedules.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Texas amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Texas ceiling is $75,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as gross value with statutory exemptions not classified by this worksheet. Counted that way, $56,300 sits below the Texas figure and $93,800 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 Texas counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Texas ceilingWhat it does not decide
$56,300Below $75,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$93,800Above $75,000Whether 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

Texas does not publish a single statewide set of fill-in probate forms; many counties require an attorney to open an administration and publish their own local forms and fee schedules.

Source trail

Records used by this Texas map

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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