Vermont personal representative compensation
32 V.S.A. § 1143 is the fiduciary-compensation statute: an executor or administrator is paid $4.00 for each day's attendance on the business of the appointment, and in cases of unusual difficulty or responsibility the Probate Division of the Superior Court may allow such further sum as it judges reasonable. The $4.00 per-diem is a nominal, archaic figure, so in any non-trivial estate the operative compensation is the further reasonable sum the court allows rather than a percentage of the estate. That is a fact about the statute, not an omission: Vermont publishes no percentage schedule.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
In Vermont, the personal representative (executor) is the person the court appoints, or the will nominates, to administer the estate. Vermont compensation is governed by state statute and, where the statute permits, by the terms of the will or a court order, so the lawful Vermont fee is whatever those authorities set — not a national rule of thumb.
The amount is not computable from estate value alone. This page therefore publishes no percentage result; it reports the reasonable-compensation standard the reviewed record supports instead.
Vermont does not set one statutory percentage to multiply by the estate. Do not substitute a neighboring state's rate or an informal fee table. The amount depends on the services and accounting in the particular administration, and the will may affect the compensation analysis where the governing rule allows it.
§ 1143. Compensation of appointees Persons acting under the authority of the Probate Division of the Superior Court shall be paid as follows: (1) for each day's attendance by executor, administrator, trustee, agent, or guardian, on the business of their appointment, $4.00; (2) for each day's attendance of commissioners, appraisers, or committee, $4.00; and (3) the Probate Division of the Superior Court may allow in cases of unusual difficulty or responsibility such further sum as it judges reasonable.
32 V.S.A. § 1143 is the fiduciary-compensation statute: an executor or administrator is paid $4.00 for each day's attendance on the business of the appointment, and in cases of unusual difficulty or responsibility the Probate Division of the Superior Court may allow such further sum as it judges reasonable. The $4.00 per-diem is a nominal, archaic figure, so in any non-trivial estate the operative compensation is the further reasonable sum the court allows rather than a percentage of the estate. That is a fact about the statute, not an omission: Vermont publishes no percentage schedule.
Keep the estate accounting, time and task log, receipts, and any will or compensation agreement together. Before taking a fee, ask the Probate Division of the Superior Court how compensation is presented for review in this estate and whether an order or account approval is required. This page cannot decide what a court will consider reasonable.
Vermont compensation map
A percentage is not a fee answer until its base is known. This Vermont map identifies the compensation standard and the accounting figure it uses, while keeping court approval and extraordinary work outside an invented total.
| Question | Recorded Vermont answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Commencement of small estate | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | personal probate property only; gross value for this route. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $45,000 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | No waiting-period number verified; 14 V.S.A. § 1203 sets two separate claim clocks that must be read apart: a four-month bar running from first publication of notice to creditors where notice is given, and a one-year bar running from death where no notice is published. The four-month period is stated in months, so it is not reduced to a fixed number of days. | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | 2 published schedules; the proceeding and value basis control the total. | Ask the Probate Division of the Superior Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | 32 V.S.A. § 1143 is the fiduciary-compensation statute: an executor or administrator is paid $4.00 for each day's attendance on the business of the appointment, and in cases of unusual difficulty or responsibility the Probate Division of the Superior Court may allow such further sum as it judges reasonable. The $4.00 per-diem is a nominal, archaic figure, so in any non-trivial estate the operative compensation is the further reasonable sum the court allows rather than a percentage of the estate. That is a fact about the statute, not an omission: Vermont publishes no percentage schedule. 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.
Vermont has no tier table this site can price from the accepted record. The controlling record is 32 V.S.A. § 1143; read its quoted standard and ask the court how the fee is presented for approval.
Because Vermont does not publish a percentage table here, the useful output is a record of the work and the accounting figure the court can review. Keep the will or appointment order, the the estate accounting the rule names, a dated task log, receipts, and a separate list of extraordinary work. This worksheet does not predict what the Probate Division of the Superior Court will approve.
§ 1143. Compensation of appointees Persons acting under the authority of the Probate Division of the Superior Court shall be paid as follows: (1) for each day's attendance by executor, administrator, trustee, agent, or guardian, on the business of their appointment, $4.00; (2) for each day's attendance of commissioners, appraisers, or committee, $4.00; and (3) the Probate Division of the Superior Court may allow in cases of unusual difficulty or responsibility such further sum as it judges reasonable.
| Record to assemble | Why it matters to the Vermont review |
|---|---|
| Will, appointment, or compensation agreement | Shows whether a document states a fee or leaves the amount to the reviewed standard. |
| Accounting base | Separates the estate accounting from the gross asset list. |
| Dated task and time record | Connects the requested amount to the administration work actually performed. |
| Receipts and extraordinary-work list | Keeps expenses and separately reviewable services out of an unexplained round number. |
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 Vermont descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
Vermont opens small estates in the Probate Division of the Superior Court and prices estate filings through a statewide statutory value schedule.
An estate with fair market value not more than $45,000 consisting entirely of personal property may use the small-estate filing; a time-share estate is expressly permitted. No waiting period is published because § 1901 does not state one and the governing court rules were not authenticated.
Probate entry fees are $50 through $10,000, $110 through $50,000, $265 through $150,000, $500 through $500,000, $1,000 through $1 million, $1,750 through $5 million, $2,500 through $10 million, and $3,250 above $10 million. Separately, 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30) sets a flat $50.00 entry fee for the affidavit procedure for small estates under Probate Rule 80.3(h).
2 published schedules; the proceeding and value basis control the total.
14 V.S.A. § 1203 sets two separate claim clocks that must be read apart: a four-month bar running from first publication of notice to creditors where notice is given, and a one-year bar running from death where no notice is published. The four-month period is stated in months, so it is not reduced to a fixed number of days.
Court-material note: The Vermont Judiciary probate hub and statewide court-location directory both returned HTTP 200. The Vermont Judiciary probate page states that forms for small estates and formal estates are found on the Estates and Wills page (linked above). The small-estate route itself is a filing in the Probate Division of the Superior Court in the county of residence rather than a self-executing affidavit; 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30) also provides a distinct affidavit procedure for small estates under Probate Rule 80.3(h).
Arithmetic illustration
The recorded Vermont ceiling is $45,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $33,800 sits below the Vermont figure and $56,300 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 Vermont counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Vermont ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $33,800 | Below $45,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $56,300 | Above $45,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Official material
The Vermont Judiciary probate hub and statewide court-location directory both returned HTTP 200.
The Vermont Judiciary probate page states that forms for small estates and formal estates are found on the Estates and Wills page (linked above). The small-estate route itself is a filing in the Probate Division of the Superior Court in the county of residence rather than a self-executing affidavit; 32 V.S.A. § 1434(a)(30) also provides a distinct affidavit procedure for small estates under Probate Rule 80.3(h).
Source trail
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: § 1143. Compensation of appointees Persons acting under the authority of the Probate Division of the Superior Court shall be paid as follows: (1) for each day's attendance by executor, administrator, trustee, agent, or guardian, on the business of their appointment, $4.00; (2) for each day's attendance of commissioners, appraisers, or committee, $4.00; and (3) the Probate Division of the Superior Court may allow in cases of unusual difficulty or responsibility such further sum as it judges reasonable.