Updated July 29, 2026. Quick answer: Usually not on an ongoing basis, and for a concrete reason: until the estate distributes, you generally do not control the assets, so there is nothing for a percentage-of-assets fee to manage. What is worth buying before then is finite and specific — understanding what is coming, in what form, and which decisions will land on you the day it arrives. That is a project, not a retainer.
What you can and cannot do yet
| Before distribution | Available? |
|---|---|
| Learn what you are inheriting and in what form | Yes, and it is the highest-value thing you can do |
| Model what the tax consequences will look like | Yes |
| Decide a drawdown approach in advance | Yes — on paper |
| Refuse an inheritance | Only within a window, and only before you accept it — the one thing that can expire while you wait |
| Move, sell, or reallocate the assets | No — not yours yet |
| Have someone manage them for a fee | No, and this is the point |
So an ongoing arrangement signed now is buying waiting. If a percentage-of-assets agreement starts before the assets arrive, the clock on the fee starts before the work can. The version of this that makes sense is an engagement that is paid for what gets done — and the thing that gets done before distribution is planning, which is exactly the finite kind of work an hourly or project arrangement is priced for.
The one item that can lapse while you wait
Almost everything in an inheritance keeps. Refusing one does not: it is available only inside a window and only before you have accepted the assets. If there is any chance you would rather the inheritance pass to someone else — a child, a sibling, a charity — that decision has to be looked at early, and it is the strongest single reason to have a conversation before the estate finishes rather than after.
Who to ask, in the meantime. The executor knows what the estate holds and when it is likely to distribute, and that information is free. The professional worth paying before distribution is usually not the advisor at all — the ordering question has its own answer, and it depends on what has a consequence you cannot reverse.
Once it does arrive, the shape of the decision depends on what the inheritance actually consists of.
Sources
Arithmetic computed for this page on the stated assumptions and recorded at context/project/inherit_fee_math_20260729.json — 6% gross annual return, a 1.00% advisory fee charged annually on the running balance, and a 0.10% self-managed cost. These are inputs, not forecasts, and not a claim about any firm’s schedule. Fee-level context: our own AUM fee pages. Every tax rule referenced is linked to the page that carries it rather than restated here.
This is arithmetic and decision framing, not tax, legal or investment advice. Nothing here states a tax deadline or a filing requirement — where one matters, the link goes to the page that carries it. Your own answer turns on what the inheritance consists of and on facts no page can see.