Executor Fee in Maryland: 9% on the First $20,000, Then One Flat Rate

Updated September 3, 2026. Quick answer: Maryland caps personal representative compensation at Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §7-601(b)(2): 9% of the first $20,000 of property subject to administration, plus 3.6% of everything above that. A $100,000 estate pays a $4,680 ceiling; $500,000 pays $19,080; $1,000,000 pays $37,080. The commission is discretionary up to that cap; the personal representative is entitled only to “reasonable compensation,” and the court sets the actual amount.

Only two tiers, so the rate flattens out fast

Where California steps a fee schedule down across five brackets (4% / 3% / 2% / 1% / 0.5%) as an estate grows, Maryland collapses everything above the first $20,000 into a single 3.6% marginal rate. The effective, blended rate converges toward 3.6% quickly (4.68% at $100,000, 3.82% at $500,000, 3.71% at $1,000,000), rather than continuing to decline the way a multi-bracket schedule does.

It is a cap, not a guarantee

Subsection (a) entitles a personal representative only to “reasonable compensation for services,” and (b)(1) has the court allow “the commissions it considers appropriate”; the 9%/3.6% table in (b)(2) is the ceiling on that discretionary award, not an automatic entitlement to the maximum. A will provision authorizing a larger measure of compensation can displace the statutory cap under (a)(2).

The attorney is judged on a different standard

Attorney compensation for the estate falls under the separate §7-602, which uses an open-ended “fair and reasonable in light of all the circumstances” standard rather than sharing the personal representative’s percentage table, and the court additionally caps the combined total of both fees to what it finds reasonable for the whole administration.

What the whole process costs in this state: Maryland 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.