Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Pennsylvania

Its not possible for a personal representative to take her fee and not complete the estate. The fee is only taken when the final accounting is submitted. Are you saying that the administrator filed an accounting and then died before it could be heard? Otherwise it would not be possible for the estate to be accruing debts and for the administrator to have taken her fee. And why would there still be debts of the estate?

The overall fee has to be fair. I would assess one fee and divide it between the work that each administrator did. If the dead administrator did 75% of the work then her estate would receive 75% of the fee.

This is how it works when 2 different lawyers are involved in a case - I can't see why a different result should not be here.

I am not at all clear on what is going on and what has been done to date just based on your post. The new administrators should at least consult with a probate attorney who practices in the county/state where the estate is pending. At least pay for the probate attorney to review the complete estate file (will or if there is no will, then the intestacy law; inventory and any accountings that have been filed). Confirm the proposal to apportion the fees and make sure all else is done correctly so that the account can be confirmed by the clerk or court.