How much can an executor be paid in Queensland?

One of the most common executor questions - and beneficiary suspicions - is payment. The Queensland position is simpler than most people expect: being named executor is not a paying job unless the Will or the court says so.

The three scenarios

1. The lay executor (family or friend). Entitled to reimbursement of reasonable expenses (certified copies, travel, storage fees) on production of receipts - but nothing for their time. Most family executors neither expect nor claim more.

2. Commission. An executor may be paid commission where the Will authorises it, or where the executor applies to the Supreme Court and satisfies it that payment is fair. Courts look at the work actually performed - the size and complexity of the estate, time taken, skill involved - and approve amounts commonly in the 1–5% range, evidenced by detailed records. Commission claimed without authority is recoverable by beneficiaries.

3. The professional executor. A solicitor or accountant appointed as executor wears two hats: as executor they are (per scenario 1) unpaid; as a professional they may charge the estate for legal work actually performed - at their normal rates, disclosed, and reviewable. What they cannot do is charge professional rates for purely administrative executor tasks.

What beneficiaries should expect

Ask early for the estate accounts. Executors must keep proper records, and a beneficiary (or residuary beneficiary especially) can request information, and if refused, seek orders compelling accounts. Professional fees on estates are also reviewable - Queensland’s costs assessment regime applies to solicitor-executor bills.

Practical advice for executors

Keep a contemporaneous log of what you do and every cent you spend; get beneficiaries’ written agreement before anything unusual (selling estate assets to a relative, for instance); and if the estate justifies commission, apply before distribution - recovering money after the fact is far harder.

• Can the executor also be a beneficiary?
• Executor duties and time limits
• Estate administration practice area