Calculating Personal Representative Compensation Is Not as Simple as It Sounds
Most of the work you do to help your family is unpaid. There are certain corners of the Internet that calculate, down to the last penny, how much it would cost to pay someone for all the things you have done for your children, from keeping infants fed, cuddled, and safe to transporting older children to school, not to mention folding all that laundry and preparing all those meals and snacks. Then there are all the things you do for your adult family members, whether it is accompanying your parents to doctors’ appointments and unpacking their groceries after a supermarket run to booking the travel tickets for family gatherings with your siblings. Being the personal representative of a deceased family member’s estate seems like a thankless job at first. You are responsible for volumes of paperwork, and the heirs are always crabbing at you to get them their inheritance and chase the creditors away before they can make off with too much of your relatives’ inheritance. The silver lining to this is that, in your capacity as personal representative of a family member’s estate, you have the rest to get paid. For help completing your tasks as personal representative successfully, contact a Bronx probate attorney.
New York Is Generous to the Personal Representatives of the Estates of Deceased People
Each state has its own laws about how much money the personal representative of a deceased person’s estate can take from the estate as compensation for his or her services. The payment amount is usually calculated as a percentage of the value of the estate, and the higher the value of the estate, the smaller the percentage the personal representative can take as payment. These are the maximum percentages of personal representative compensation in New York:
- Five percent of the first $100,000, for a maximum of $5,000
- Four percent of the next $200,000, for a maximum of $8,000
- Three percent of the next $700,000, for a total of $21,000
- 2.5 percent of the next $4 million, for a maximum of $100,000
- Two percent of any money in the estate beyond the first $5 million
What Does and Does Not Count Toward the Value of the Estate?
Calculating the value of the estate can be complicated. The percentage is based on the gross value of the estate, before it pays any taxes or debts. Meanwhile, non-probate assets are not part of the estate; these include assets held in trust, jointly owned property that passes directly to the surviving co-owner, and accounts with a transfer on death (TOD) beneficiary listed. Real estate properties also do not count toward the value on which the personal representative’s compensation is based, even if they are part of the estate.
Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney
An estate planning lawyer can help you get fair compensation for your work as personal representative of a deceased family member’s estate. Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.
Source:
estateexec.com/Docs/executor-fee-calculator/NY