Many from Hernando County often come to us here at The Day Law Office with a wealth of questions about everything they will be asking those that they choose as their personal representatives to do. With the awesome responsibility that a personal representative assumes also comes the question of his or her compensation. If you are concerned that you will asking your personal representative to handle way too much for far too little of a reward, you will be pleased to know that he or she can be compensated for everything he or she does. The question then becomes which is the best way to do it?
The state has set up its own fee schedule determining personal representative compensation. Its details can be found in Section 733.617 of Florida’s Probate Code. Per this statute, your personal representative is entitled to following compensatory rates:
- 3 percent for the first $1 million of the estate’s compensable value
- 2.5 percent for every subsequent $1 million in value (up to $5 million)
- 2 percent for every subsequent $1 million in value beyond $5 million (up to $10 million)
- 1.5 percent for everything over $10 million
You can choose to follow this model, or you can set your own parameters for how you would like your personal representative to be compensated for his or her services. If you want him or her to follow your compensation model, however, you must bind him or her to do so contractually. Otherwise, he or she can choose to ignore what you have stipulated and follow the state’ model.
If you choose two personal representatives and your estate’s compensable value is more than $100,000, each is entitled to the full amount that would normally be paid to a sole personal representative. You can learn more about preparing your personal representative for his or her duties by continuing to explore our site.