Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: North Dakota sets no percentage or schedule. N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-18-19 entitles a personal representative only to reasonable compensation for services performed, the bare Uniform Probate Code formulation with no factors listed in the statute itself. The court decides what is reasonable, reviewing compensation on petition of an interested person or on its own motion under a companion section.
The statute, and what it does not do
N.D. Cent. Code § 30.1-18-19 entitles a personal representative to reasonable compensation for the personal representative’s services. It sets no percentage, no schedule, and no list of factors for weighing what counts as reasonable.
Who actually decides, and the bare Uniform Probate Code mechanic
North Dakota’s statute is the Uniform Probate Code’s §3-719 formulation carried over essentially unamended, cross-referenced in the section’s own header, with no state-specific factors added on top. A companion section, § 30.1-18-21, lets the court review a personal representative’s compensation on petition of an interested person or on the court’s own motion. If a will sets compensation and there was no contract with the decedent about it, the personal representative can renounce that provision before qualifying and fall back on the statutory reasonable-compensation standard instead; a personal representative can also renounce all or part of any compensation by filing a written renunciation with the court.
What that means in practice
With no percentage or factor list in the statute, a North Dakota personal representative should be ready to document the time and services actually provided if compensation is ever challenged on petition. Check the will first: if it sets a compensation term the personal representative would rather not be bound by, renouncing that provision before qualifying preserves the statutory reasonable-compensation standard instead.
What the whole process costs in this state: North Dakota probate cost. Every state’s fee model side by side: probate cost by state.
Work out the number: the executor fee calculator. How the standard is applied where no schedule exists: reasonable-compensation states. Whether to take the fee at all: when the executor is also an heir, and how the fee is taxed.
Statutory text read at each state’s own legislature or official code publisher. General information, not legal advice; a court retains the final say on what compensation is allowed.
Related: whether North Dakota requires the executor to post a bond.