Pennsylvania does not set a fixed fee for the executor of a will. State law entitles the executor to compensation that is “reasonable and just” under the circumstances, and in practice most Pennsylvania executors are paid between 2% and 5% of the estate’s value using a graduated percentage schedule that pays a higher rate on the first dollars of the estate and a lower rate on each tier above that.1Pennsylvania General Assembly. Pennsylvania Code Title 20 Chapter 35 Section 3537 – Compensation So the honest answer to “how much” is: it depends on the size of the estate, what kinds of assets it holds, and how much work the job actually required.
The Standard Schedule Pennsylvania Courts Use
Because 20 Pa.C.S. ยง 3537 gives no numbers, Pennsylvania probate lawyers and Orphans’ Courts fall back on a 1983 Orphans’ Court decision known as Johnson Estate. It set out a graduated bracket that has been treated as the informal standard ever since. The original brackets:
- 5% on the first $100,000
- 4% on the next $100,000
- 3% on the next $800,000
- 2% on the next $1,000,000
- 1.5% on the next $1,000,000
- 1% on the next $1,000,000
- 0.5% on the next $1,000,000
The numbers are in 1983 dollars, so practitioners routinely adjust the thresholds upward for inflation. A common modern version stretches the 5% tier to roughly the first $325,000, with the following tiers extended proportionally. No court has issued an official update, so the exact adjusted numbers vary by attorney and by county. The shape of the schedule is what stays constant: smaller estates pay the higher percentages, and the rate steps down as the value climbs.
Different Percentages for Different Assets
Johnson Estate also set separate rates for assets that require the executor’s attention but don’t pass through the probate estate in the ordinary way:
- Joint accounts and payable-on-death bonds: 1% each
- Trust funds: 1%
- Real estate sold through a broker: 3%
- Real estate kept by the estate rather than sold: 5%
- Real estate that passes to a specific beneficiary: 1%
The real estate tiers track the work involved. Managing a sale, handling repairs, or dealing with tenants is more labor than signing a deed over to a named heir, and the percentages reflect that.
A Worked Example
Take a probate estate worth $500,000 and apply the original Johnson Estate brackets. The fee is 5% of the first $100,000 ($5,000), plus 4% of the next $100,000 ($4,000), plus 3% of the remaining $300,000 ($9,000). Total: $18,000, or about 3.6% of the estate. Under inflation-adjusted brackets, more of the estate falls inside the 5% and 4% tiers, so the total comes out somewhat higher.
When an Executor Can Ask for More
The schedule is a starting point, not a cap. An executor who did work well beyond ordinary administration can ask the court to approve a higher fee. Situations that commonly justify an increase include running the deceased’s business during administration, selling multiple properties, handling litigation for the estate, working through complex tax audits, or managing a large group of beneficiaries in disagreement.
Anyone hoping to be paid above the standard schedule needs contemporaneous records: time spent, tasks performed, decisions made. Without that documentation, a court has no basis to approve extra compensation.
When the Will Sets the Fee
A will can specify what the executor gets paid, whether that’s a flat dollar amount, a percentage, or another formula. If the will addresses compensation, the executor generally accepts that arrangement by taking on the role.
If the amount in the will is too low, the executor has one option, and the timing matters. Before starting the work, the executor can formally renounce the compensation provision in the will. After renouncing, they’re entitled to whatever the court considers reasonable under the standard guidelines. Renouncing after the job is underway is not an option, so this decision has to be made early.
Taxes on Executor Compensation
An executor fee is income, not an inheritance. This is what surprises most family members who serve. The IRS treats the fee as payment for services, and it’s taxable at both the federal and state level.2Internal Revenue Service. Survivors, Executors, and Administrators
How the fee gets reported depends on who the executor is:
- A non-professional executor (a family member or friend serving once) reports the fee on Schedule 1, line 8z of Form 1040. No self-employment tax.
- A professional executor, meaning an attorney, accountant, or other fiduciary who serves regularly, reports the fee as self-employment income on Schedule C, and owes self-employment tax on top of income tax.
- An executor who actively runs a business owned by the estate reports fees tied to that business on Schedule C, even if they aren’t a professional fiduciary.
Pennsylvania personal income tax also applies to the fee. On the estate’s side of the ledger, the fee is deductible as an administration expense on the Pennsylvania inheritance tax return, claimed on Schedule H of the REV-1500.3Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. Executor’s Fees as Compensation and Deduction
Waiving the Fee
Family executors who are also beneficiaries often skip the fee. The math can favor it. An executor fee is taxable income, but an inheritance is generally not subject to federal income tax. Pennsylvania inheritance tax still applies to the inheritance itself, at rates that depend on the beneficiary’s relationship to the deceased.
To waive compensation cleanly, act early. Under Revenue Ruling 66-167, an executor who waives the fee within a reasonable time after starting to serve, and whose conduct is consistent with serving without pay, avoids having the waived amount treated as income or as a taxable gift. Wait too long and the IRS may treat you as having earned the fee and then given it away.
When and How the Fee Gets Paid
The executor’s compensation is an administration expense of the estate, which puts it ahead of distributions to beneficiaries in the payment order. It does not come out first, though. The normal sequence is: pay the estate’s debts, pay taxes, take the executor fee, then distribute what remains.
Before taking payment, the executor has to disclose the proposed fee to the beneficiaries. That can happen through a formal account filed with the Orphans’ Court or through a family settlement agreement signed by everyone with an interest in the estate.4York County, PA. Estate Administration Information The family settlement route is simpler and stays out of court, but it only works if every beneficiary agrees and creditors are all paid.
Beneficiaries can challenge the fee. If someone objects, the county Orphans’ Court reviews the amount against the Johnson Estate schedule and the complexity of the estate. Judges look at total value, hours invested, difficulty of the work, and the quality of the results.
How an Executor Can Lose the Fee
An executor who breaches their fiduciary duty risks forfeiting compensation entirely. Mismanaging assets, self-dealing, or failing to account for estate property can lead the court to order the executor to give up some or all of the fee, no matter how much legitimate work they did. In serious cases, the executor may owe money back to the estate rather than collecting from it.
Detailed records protect against this outcome. They support the fee you’re claiming and demonstrate that the underlying work was done properly.