Florida Statute 733.617
“Compensation of personal representative”
What it means
Personal representatives get paid, and this section sets how much. For ordinary services, the commission is payable from estate assets without a court order, computed on compensable value — the inventory value of the probate estate assets plus income earned during administration. The presumed-reasonable schedule: 3% of the first $1 million; 2.5% above $1 million up to $5 million; 2% above $5 million up to $10 million; 1.5% above $10 million.
Extraordinary services — selling real or personal property, litigation for or against the estate, tax proceedings, carrying on the decedent's business, dealing with protected homestead — justify further compensation. The percentages are presumptions, not a ceiling or a floor: on petition of an interested person, the court may increase or decrease the figure.
- Schedule: 3% of the first $1 million; 2.5% above $1M to $5M; 2% above $5M to $10M; 1.5% above $10M.
- Computed on compensable value: inventory value of probate assets plus income earned during administration — not the gross estate.
- Extraordinary services — property sales, litigation, tax proceedings, the decedent's business, protected homestead — earn additional compensation.
- Two PRs and $100,000+ of compensable value: each takes a full commission; more than two split two commissions.
- A will's specific compensation terms control — but the PR can usually renounce them and take the statutory rate.
- An attorney (or person related to one) who drafted the will nominating themselves as PR forfeits compensation unless related to the testator or the required disclosures were made before signing.
How it plays out
The commission is real money — $30,000 on a $1 million estate — and the first decision is whether to take it. Family PRs who are also the main beneficiaries usually waive it: the commission is taxable income, while an inheritance generally is not. Professional fiduciaries take it. When two siblings serve together on an estate over $100,000, the each-gets-a-full-commission rule surprises everyone, so we put the fee conversation in writing before letters issue, not at the final accounting.
Where this shows up
Pages on this site where § 733.617 does real work:
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