Executor’s Commission

As executor you may be entitled to a payment for your “pains and trouble in administering the estate”. The commission is a very small percentage of the estate paid to the executor for the work they personally did in managing the estate.

In order to be paid a commission you will need to:

keep a record of each and every attendance you made in your role as executor;
record how long each attendance took;
have estate accounts prepared and filed for auditing by the Supreme Court; and
lodge with the Court an application for payment of commission and this will include you filing originals of every invoice and receipt generated during the administration of the estate.

The Court has a discretion as to whether it will award you an executors commission.

The registrar of the court will need to be convinced that you had to make very significant efforts and even sacrifices to get the job done.
You may not be entitled to a commission if you received a gift under the will.

Commission by Agreement

A claim for a commission may take a lot of time and effort for no result. The best way to approach the question of an executor’s commission is by seeking a “commission by agreement”. This is where the solicitor acting for the estate writes to the residuary beneficiaries and puts a logical, persuasive case that the most efficient way of dealing with the question is by obtaining the residuary beneficiaries written consent to payment without having to go to Court.