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Wisconsin personal representative compensation

Wisconsin executor fee calculator

Subject to court approval, the default is 2% of inventory value for accountable property less mortgages or liens plus net principal gains. A written agreement may set another rate; the court may add reasonable sums for unusual difficulty or extraordinary services and may reduce or deny compensation for dereliction.

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.

Asset 1

Asset 2

Your working estimate

Wisconsin estate snapshot

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeMore information neededPetition commencing a deceased-person estate proceeding (operative through 2026-10-31)2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.
Scheduled executor compensationCase accounting neededEnter the compensable value above and this schedule is applied to it, band by band.Subject to court approval, the default is 2% of inventory value for accountable property less mortgages or liens plus net principal gains. A written agreement may set another rate; the court may add reasonable sums for unusual difficulty or extraordinary services and may reduce or deny compensation for dereliction.

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 Wisconsin executor compensation works

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

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

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

Wisconsin compensation map

Which figure the Wisconsin fee rule actually measures

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

QuestionRecorded Wisconsin answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Transfer by affidavitConfirm 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?$50,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?No waiting-period number verified; The court sets a deadline 3–4 months from its order, while special rules apply to creditors lacking notice and an outer administration limit appears elsewhere; one number would collapse different triggers.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 Circuit Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Subject to court approval, the default is 2% of inventory value for accountable property less mortgages or liens plus net principal gains. A written agreement may set another rate; the court may add reasonable sums for unusual difficulty or extraordinary services and may reduce or deny compensation for dereliction. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Compensation record

The Wisconsin 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
All value above the prior band2%the estate accounting

Case-file context

Keep the Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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

Wisconsin has separate transfer-by-affidavit, summary-settlement, and summary-assignment procedures. This record models the $50,000 gross-value affidavit and separately discloses the court summary-settlement test.

Section 867.03 permits transfer by affidavit when property subject to administration in Wisconsin does not exceed $50,000 in gross value. This is distinct from § 867.01 court summary settlement, which has a $50,000 net-of-secured-debt family route and a separate route keyed to priority costs, allowances, and claims; the two procedures and value bases must not be conflated.

Cost context

Through October 31, 2026, opening an estate proceeding costs 0.2% of the value of property subject to administration less encumbrances, liens, or charges, with an effective $20 minimum at $10,000 or less and no stated cap. Effective November 1, 2026, Act 179 changes the low band to $36 at $18,500 or less; that future schedule is not treated as operative on August 9.

1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.

Deadline context

The court sets a deadline 3–4 months from its order, while special rules apply to creditors lacking notice and an outer administration limit appears elsewhere; one number would collapse different triggers.

  • The future November 1, 2026 filing-fee schedule needs a timed re-review.
  • Section 867.03’s conditional 30-day hold is not a universal death-based waiting period and must not be shown as one.

Court-material note: Wisconsin publishes statewide probate forms, including PR-1831 for the affidavit track. Probate jurisdiction is in Circuit Court; use the statewide circuit-court directory for county contact details.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Wisconsin amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Wisconsin ceiling is $50,000, 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, $37,500 sits below the Wisconsin figure and $62,500 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 Wisconsin counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Wisconsin ceilingWhat it does not decide
$37,500Below $50,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$62,500Above $50,000Whether 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

Wisconsin publishes statewide probate forms, including PR-1831 for the affidavit track.

Probate jurisdiction is in Circuit Court; use the statewide circuit-court directory for county contact details.

Source trail

Records used by this Wisconsin map

The figure the Wisconsin schedule is applied to

The rate is only half of the answer; the other half is the number the rate is applied to, and in Wisconsin that number is specific. The reviewed rule measures compensation against the inventory value of the property for which the personal representative is accountable less any mortgages or liens plus net principal gains. Use the statutory accounting figure; do not apply 2% to gross probate property.

Entering a different figure — the gross value on a bank statement, the net estate after debts, or the total that passed to the heirs — produces a Wisconsin number the rule does not support, even when the percentage is applied correctly. The base is the part most often got wrong.

The Wisconsin schedule is a flat rate: one percentage applied to the whole accountable figure, with no bands to cross. That makes the arithmetic simple and puts all the weight on the base above — get the base right and the Wisconsin figure follows from it.

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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