Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Maryland

Executers Payment

My husband died and left everything to me in a will, but named our lawyer executer of the estate. We have several liabilities (boat, truck) to pay off and a few assests (401K, etc) as well as the house which I intend to keep but owe about $100,000.00 on. How does this lawyer get paid? Is it a percentage of all the assests? A flat % of everything, including the equity on the house? A percentage of the assests - liabilities? He keeps saying his fee will be taken out of the estate, but what determines the value of the estate?


Asked on 9/27/07, 1:54 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas Brown Law Office of Thomas K. Brown, LLC

Re: Executers Payment

The value of the estate, for the purposes of computing the maximum a court will award a personal representative (i.e., executor) in commission, is based on the total value of the property subject to administration. Say, for example, the house was titled jointly with survivorship rights -- that would not be subject to administration as it would transfer to the surviving spouse by operation of law. But if there was property that was owned solely by your husband that the personal representative need to deal with to correctly dispose of it, that would count.

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Answered on 9/28/07, 4:30 pm


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