What are reasonable executor fees?

[DPS5128]

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma

My parents have removed me as executor of their wills and named my brother instead. The new will gives him 10% of the liquidated assets of the estate as opposed to a flat $5,000 in the original will. What are considered usual and customary executor fees?

[BlondiePB]

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma

My parents have removed me as executor of their wills and named my brother instead. The new will gives him 10% of the liquidated assets of the estate as opposed to a flat $5,000 in the original will. What are considered usual and customary executor fees?

Usual and customary has nothing to do with what is written the will.

[BelizeBreeze]

I witnessed a will last year for a friend that gave the executor 15% of the value of the estate....a cool $2.7 million....

[DPS5128]

Thank you! I appreciate your advice.

[candg918]

As it turns out I am working on an estate in Oklahoma and spoke this afternoon with the Estate Tax Agent on Duty at the Oklahoma Tax Commission. Among other things, we happened to discuss the trustee/executor fee which is a line item on the 454B form. The executor fee is addressed by state statute while the trustee fee is not. I am just dealing with a trust so the statute did not apply. See the link:

[url]http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=72389[/url]

[BlondiePB]

As it turns out I am working on an estate in Oklahoma and spoke this afternoon with the Estate Tax Agent on Duty at the Oklahoma Tax Commission. Among other things, we happened to discuss the trustee/executor fee which is a line item on the 454B form. The executor fee is addressed by state statute while the trustee fee is not. I am just dealing with a trust so the statute did not apply. See the link:

[url]http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=72389[/url]

That does not apply to this situation. The fee is established in writing in the will by the testators.

[candg918]

I realize that the will overrides statute. It is so stated in statute.

The statutes themselves are interesting; it is confusing to locate them in the OK state website. The posted link can be used to backtrack to the main site. If an heir is uncomfortable with the way the executor is handling the estate, a reading of the statues is essential. The most likely response after seeing what is involved in the OK statutes would be that they are glad someone else has the task {lol}.

It is also interesting that trustees fees are not addressed. Many people do not differentiate between a will and a trust and refer to both documents as the "will." I did not consiously differentiate between executor and trustee fees even though I did between the documents. My mother's trust stated that fees were appropriate but did not set an amount. The statute for executor fee helped determine trustee fee.

In making a will or trust, I doubt that many people address the fee issue or even know how much is specified by statute for their home state. In the wills and trusts that have been drawn up for us, the fee structure was never brought up by even one of the three attorneys. In my opinion, the fees by OK statute are too low for a small but financially complex estate; I personally intend to explicitly specify a percentage with a minimum to insure the person dealing with the paperwork is fairly compensated - something I never would have considered before considering the OP's question and the original responses.

In speaking with the tax commission agent, I understood that they do look at the fee reported to see if it is in the expected range. The form I am filing does NOT REQUIRE the submission of the will, trust or any other document with the return. If I were submitting a return with an executor fee outside of the expected range, I would be sure to include a copy of the will as supplemental documentation to facilitate the approval of the return. The approval of the return is important because in OK the financial institutions freeze 10% of the account until the tax commission approves the estate tax return - something that was totally unexpected. The agent also advised that several other documents be filed with the return simply to forstall questions regarding the return by other heirs. If the OP has specific questions, a call to the OTC will be useful as the agents I have spoken to have been very helpful.

This forum presents a unique opportunity to learn from both expert advice and from seeing the types of questions and problems that arise. Problems of others will influenced several significant additions to my new trust document. I am grateful to both the experts for the technical answers and to the participants for the practical questions and suggestions. THANK YOU ALL!

C

[BlondiePB]

I realize that the will overrides statute. It is so stated in statute.

The statutes themselves are interesting; it is confusing to locate them in the OK state website. The posted link can be used to backtrack to the main site. If an heir is uncomfortable with the way the executor is handling the estate, a reading of the statues is essential. The most likely response after seeing what is involved in the OK statutes would be that they are glad someone else has the task {lol}.

It is also interesting that trustees fees are not addressed. Many people do not differentiate between a will and a trust and refer to both documents as the "will." I did not consiously differentiate between executor and trustee fees even though I did between the documents. My mother's trust stated that fees were appropriate but did not set an amount. The statute for executor fee helped determine trustee fee.

In making a will or trust, I doubt that many people address the fee issue or even know how much is specified by statute for their home state. In the wills and trusts that have been drawn up for us, the fee structure was never brought up by even one of the three attorneys. In my opinion, the fees by OK statute are too low for a small but financially complex estate; I personally intend to explicitly specify a percentage with a minimum to insure the person dealing with the paperwork is fairly compensated - something I never would have considered before considering the OP's question and the original responses.

In speaking with the tax commission agent, I understood that they do look at the fee reported to see if it is in the expected range. The form I am filing does NOT REQUIRE the submission of the will, trust or any other document with the return. If I were submitting a return with an executor fee outside of the expected range, I would be sure to include a copy of the will as supplemental documentation to facilitate the approval of the return. The approval of the return is important because in OK the financial institutions freeze 10% of the account until the tax commission approves the estate tax return - something that was totally unexpected. The agent also advised that several other documents be filed with the return simply to forstall questions regarding the return by other heirs. If the OP has specific questions, a call to the OTC will be useful as the agents I have spoken to have been very helpful.

This forum presents a unique opportunity to learn from both expert advice and from seeing the types of questions and problems that arise. Problems of others will influenced several significant additions to my new trust document. I am grateful to both the experts for the technical answers and to the participants for the practical questions and suggestions. THANK YOU ALL!

C

Poster's can get very confused when the correct answer is given and then someone adds information that does not apply to the OP's situation. Including info about a trust when the OP is only dealing with a will can add to the OP's confusion.

If I recall correctly, I did have to have you differentiate between your documents to properly discuss your situations.