Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Utah sets no fee schedule. Utah Code § 75-3-718 entitles a personal representative to reasonable compensation for services, and if an interested person actually objects, the probate court weighs the quality, quantity, and value of the services rendered, the circumstances under which they were rendered, and the practice of comparable fiduciaries. If nobody objects within the notice period, the statute deems the amount requested in the petition to be reasonable, with no independent court review at all.
The statute, and what it does not do
Utah Code § 75-3-718 grants a personal representative and an attorney entitled to reasonable compensation for their services. It sets no percentage and no schedule; the language is a bare entitlement, followed by factors the court applies only once a dispute actually exists.
Who actually decides, and only if someone objects
When an interested person objects to the personal representative’s compensation, the court determines reasonable compensation based on the quality, quantity, and value of the services rendered to the estate, the circumstances under which those services were rendered, and the practice for other fiduciaries in similar circumstances, a comparable-fiduciary benchmark. That judicial review only happens if an objection is actually filed. Absent an objection within the notice period, the compensation sought in the petition is deemed reasonable by operation of the statute itself, and no independent review occurs. A will that sets the personal representative’s compensation, with no separate contract with the decedent, can be renounced by the personal representative before qualifying, reverting to the statutory reasonable-compensation standard instead; a personal representative can also renounce their fee entirely or partially by filing with the court.
What that means in practice
Because the reasonable-compensation determination defaults to whatever figure is requested unless someone objects, the practical fee ceiling in Utah is set less by the statute’s factors and more by whether an interested person is paying attention during the notice period. An executor should expect that a well-documented, market-consistent fee request that goes unchallenged simply becomes the reasonable fee, while a contested request puts the quality, quantity, value, circumstances, and comparable-fiduciary factors in front of the court.
What the whole process costs in this state: Utah 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.