PA Executor Guide

PA Executor Fees: How Much Does an Executor Get Paid in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania is unusual: there is no statutory fee schedule. Here is what the law actually says, and the decision that matters more than the percentage.

What the law actually says

Section 3537 of the Probate, Estates and Fiduciaries Code is short enough to read in full, and reading it in full is the point:

§ 3537. Compensation. The court shall allow such compensation to the personal representative as shall in the circumstances be reasonable and just, and may calculate such compensation on a graduated percentage.

Two things follow. First, there is no number to look up: the standard is reasonable and just in the circumstances, judged on the facts of your estate. Second, the statute permits a graduated percentage but does not prescribe one, which is why Pennsylvania practice grew up around an informal benchmark instead.

Why you will see a “Pennsylvania executor fee schedule” anyway

The schedule circulating online comes from Johnson Estate, a 1983 adjudication in the Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas of Chester County (Estate of Margaret E. Johnson, No. 1982-166, Wood, J.). Judges commonly compare a claimed fee against it, and many practitioners quote it. Three things are worth knowing before you treat it as the answer:

• It is not law. It is one county judge’s guidance for auditing accounts, later adopted by other judges in their own opinions. The Superior Court has criticised mechanical use of percentage schedules.
• It is not a maximum, and not a minimum. Courts have declined to read it as a cap, and have been explicit that compensation is set by the facts of the case rather than by adhering to a table.
• The brackets are in 1983 dollars. No court has issued an official inflation update, so practitioners adjust them by their own judgement, which is a large part of why quoted figures differ.

We have deliberately not reproduced the percentages here. The figures in wide circulation could not be confirmed against the text of the opinion itself, and publishing a fee table that reads like a rule — when the statute says the opposite — is how executors end up surprised at the audit. The opinion is published in full if you want to read it, and your county Register of Wills or an attorney can tell you what your court expects in practice.

What courts actually weigh

Because the test is “reasonable and just,” the things that move the number are the facts of the administration: the size and complexity of the estate, the time genuinely spent, whether extraordinary services were required (a business to wind up, litigation, hard-to-sell real estate), and the results achieved. One practical consequence comes up repeatedly: a fee claimed without contemporaneous records of time and work is the one most likely to be reduced. Keeping a dated log from the first week costs nothing and is the evidence the court asks for.

The calculation that matters more: take the fee, or waive it?

For a Pennsylvania executor who is also a beneficiary, the percentage is usually the less important question. A commission is taxable income to you. An inheritance is subject to PA inheritance tax at a rate set by your relationship — 0% for a surviving spouse, 4.5% for lineal descendants, 12% for siblings, 15% for others. The commission is deductible on the estate’s REV-1500, so taking it reduces the estate’s inheritance tax; but the same dollars then arrive as income taxed at your marginal federal rate plus Pennsylvania’s flat 3.07% personal income tax.

Where you are the sole beneficiary, those two effects can be compared directly. The estimate below does that:

For most lineal beneficiaries the arithmetic points the same way: 4.5% inheritance tax is a lower rate than almost anyone’s combined income tax rate, so the same dollars are cheaper inherited than earned. That is why sole-beneficiary executors in Pennsylvania frequently waive the commission. It is a choice, not a rule — and if others inherit alongside you, the comparison changes completely.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an executor get paid in Pennsylvania?

There is no statutory percentage. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3537 the court allows compensation that is “reasonable and just” in the circumstances, and may calculate it on a graduated percentage. In practice many judges compare a claimed fee against the informal benchmark from Johnson Estate (1983), but that is guidance rather than law, and it is neither a maximum nor a minimum. What a particular estate supports depends on its size, complexity and the work actually done.

Does Pennsylvania have an executor fee schedule?

Not an official one. Pennsylvania has no court-approved statutory schedule, which is what separates it from states like New Jersey and Maryland where a formula is written into the statute. The schedule people encounter online comes from a 1983 Chester County adjudication that other judges have since cited. Its brackets are in 1983 dollars and no court has published an inflation-adjusted version.

Is an executor’s fee taxable in Pennsylvania?

Yes. A commission is compensation for services, so it is taxable income to the executor — reportable federally and subject to Pennsylvania’s personal income tax, which is levied at a flat 3.07%. That is the central difference from an inheritance, which is instead subject to PA inheritance tax at the rate set by your relationship to the decedent. Confirm your own treatment with a CPA.

Should I take the executor fee if I am also the beneficiary?

It is worth doing the arithmetic before deciding. The commission is deductible on the estate’s REV-1500, so taking it lowers the estate’s inheritance tax — but the same money is then taxed to you as ordinary income. Where you are the sole beneficiary and a lineal descendant, the inheritance tax rate of 4.5% is usually well below a combined income tax rate, so the dollars tend to be cheaper inherited than earned, and many executors waive the fee for that reason. Where other people inherit alongside you, taking the fee shifts money from them to you and the comparison is different. A CPA can run it on your numbers.

Who pays the executor’s commission in Pennsylvania?

The estate pays it out of estate assets, not the beneficiaries personally, and generally toward the end of administration once debts, taxes and the creditor position are resolved. It appears in the account the personal representative files, which is where an interested party can raise an objection to it.

Can a beneficiary object to the executor’s fee in Pennsylvania?

Yes. Compensation is reviewed by the Orphans’ Court, and an interested party can object at the audit of the estate account. That is the practical reason to keep contemporaneous records: the fee most likely to be reduced is the one claimed without evidence of the time and work behind it.

Does the will control what the executor is paid?

It can, and it is the first place to look. Where a will sets compensation, that provision generally governs the arrangement between the parties. Where the will is silent — which is common — § 3537 supplies the standard instead. Read the will before assuming either way.