Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Maryland

Reasonable Trustee Fees

I was co-Trustee with my father on a discretionary trust originally set up by my grandmother in MD, for my sister, who lived in MD and was bi-polar. My father (living in PA) died in Dec 06 and approx $170,000 of is IRA monies went into this MD trust account. The rest of his estate hasn't been settled yet. My sister for whom the trust benefited just passed away in Sept 07. Since my father's estate wasn't settled prior to HER death, her share may be split up and added to the other 3 surviving sisters' inheritance instead of being added to my deceased sister's trust account. At my father's death I remained a Trustee on the account and another sister became a co-trustee. I've never received any compensation for being Trustee and would like to know what reasonable Trustee fees are for administering the trust for the past 10 years.


Asked on 11/05/07, 8:59 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cyndi Perez Trostin

Re: Reasonable Trustee Fees

"Reasonable" trustee's fees are based on a combination of the level of work performed, your opportunity costs in taking time away from your other responsibilities, and local standard costs for other people in your area performing the same work as trustees.

Some examples of the level of work might range from doing menial work moving trust property from a house to a storage facility, to preparing a trust accounting and consulting with financial advisors and attorneys, etc. (The latter type of work would be able to justify a higher hourly rate.)

Opportunity costs might be looking at what you earn on your regular job. For instance, if you earn $20/hour, your reasonable trustee fees would probably be around this rate for the time you spend on trust matters.

You can check with banks to see what their typical costs for handling the type of trust you are managing would be. Most banks charge based on the value of the trust assets.

I hope this helps.

Good luck to you.

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Answered on 11/05/07, 11:08 am


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