Executor Fee in Vermont: The Will’s Fee Clause Controls Unless the Executor Renounces It

Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Vermont sets no percentage or schedule. 14 V.S.A. § 1065 allows an executor or administrator necessary expenses in the care, management, and settlement of the estate and reasonable fees for services, with no enumerated factors, left to the Probate Division of the Superior Court to decide case by case. Vermont’s default runs the opposite direction from most reasonable-compensation states: when the will makes its own provision for compensation, that provision is full satisfaction for the executor’s services, unless the executor files a written renunciation of it with the Probate Division, or the court orders otherwise.

The statute, and what it does not do

14 V.S.A. § 1065 provides that an executor or administrator shall be allowed necessary expenses in the care, management, and settlement of the estate and reasonable fees for services. It lists no factors and no percentage, a bare reasonable-fee standard, leaving the amount to the Probate Division’s case-by-case judgment.

Who actually decides, and the will’s default control

The Probate Division of the Superior Court is the decider under the statute. But Vermont’s default posture is unusual: when the will makes some other provision for compensation, that provision is full satisfaction for the executor’s services, and the reasonable-fee standard of 14 V.S.A. § 1065 does not apply. The only way around a will’s fee clause is for the executor to renounce it, in writing, filed with the Probate Division, or for the court to order otherwise. That is the reverse of the more common pattern, where a will’s compensation clause is merely an option the executor can decline in favor of the statutory standard; in Vermont the will’s clause is binding unless the executor affirmatively opts out.

What that means in practice

An executor named in a Vermont will should read the fee clause first. If the will sets a specific fee or method and the executor wants the statutory reasonable-fee standard instead, they need to file a written renunciation with the Probate Division before relying on 14 V.S.A. § 1065; simply requesting a different amount is not enough. If the will is silent, the Probate Division sets reasonable fees for services and necessary expenses case by case, with no published percentage to anchor expectations.

What the whole process costs in this state: Vermont 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.