Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: 755 ILCS 5/27-1 entitles a representative to reasonable compensation for services, with no statutory factor list, the Probate Act leaves the term undefined and committed to the probate court’s discretion. What is distinctive is priority: a fee allowed under Section 27-1 is classified as a first-class claim for administrative expenses, payable ahead of most other claims against the estate. The statute also carves out two narrow exclusions from compensation entirely.
The statute, and what it does not define
755 ILCS 5/27-1 states that a representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for his services. No statutory factor list is set out in the section itself, the Probate Act leaves reasonable compensation undefined and committed to the probate court’s discretion.
Who actually decides, priority, and the two exclusions
The probate court, the circuit court sitting in probate, allows the fee as part of estate administration. Fees awarded under Section 27-1 are classified as a first-class claim for administrative expenses, payable ahead of most other claims, under Section 18-10. The statute also carves out two specific exclusions: no compensation may be paid to a public administrator for administering a U.S. war veteran’s VA compensation or insurance monies, and Illinois Department of Human Services or Department of Children and Family Services employees who serve as guardians of estates at state institutions may not be paid a fee. Attorney’s fees for the estate’s attorney are governed separately, under Section 27-2, also on a reasonable-compensation standard, with a 30-day post-withdrawal deadline to petition for fees.
What that means in practice
Because the compensation standard is undefined, expect the court’s reasonableness review to be discretionary rather than formula-driven, and know that a properly allowed fee has first-class claim priority, meaning it is paid ahead of most other claims against the estate. If the estate’s attorney will also seek fees, remember Section 27-2 runs on its own reasonable-compensation standard and its own 30-day post-withdrawal petition deadline, separate from the representative’s own fee.
What the whole process costs in this state: Illinois 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 Illinois requires the executor to post a bond.