Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Kansas sets no percentage fee for the attorney or the personal representative. K.S.A. §59-1717 entitles a fiduciary to just and reasonable compensation for services and those of the fiduciary’s attorneys, and Kansas case law construes the statute as a reimbursement mechanism, letting the personal representative recover from the estate what was reasonably paid to counsel, not a court-set fee awarded directly to the lawyer.
K.S.A. 59-1717: one sentence, both roles, no percentage
Kansas’ probate code addresses compensation for both the personal representative and the attorney in a single sentence: every fiduciary shall be allowed necessary expenses and such compensation for services and those of his or her attorneys as shall be just and reasonable, and the fiduciary may apply to the court at any time during administration for an allowance on both. No percentage, dollar figure, or schedule appears anywhere in the section.
A reimbursement claim, not a direct court-set fee
Kansas appellate authority construing §59-1717 describes it as letting a fiduciary safely procure the aid of legal advisers and bind the estate for payment of what is found reasonable, with the fiduciary personally responsible for paying counsel and then reimbursed by credit in settlement of the fiduciary’s own account. Kansas courts have held §59-1717 is not a fee-shifting statute against third parties but allows the fiduciary to be reimbursed from the estate for attorney fees and expenses incurred in the execution of the trust. Reasonableness in practice is tested against the eight factors in Kansas Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5(a): time and labor required, the fee customarily charged locally, the amount involved and results obtained, and the attorney’s experience and reputation, among others.
The Kansas-specific practical consequence
Because the mechanism is framed as reimbursement rather than a direct fee award, and because Kansas courts have specifically denied reimbursement where a fiduciary’s attorney did not keep contemporaneous, itemized time records to support the requested amount, an attorney billing a Kansas estate should expect the reasonableness inquiry to focus heavily on documented hours rather than a percentage-of-estate shortcut, since no such shortcut exists in the statute.
The rest of the arithmetic: Kansas probate cost.
How the fee models compare across all 51 jurisdictions: probate cost by state, and the national picture on what a probate attorney costs.
Statutory text read at each state’s own legislature or official code publisher. General information, not legal advice; fee statutes change and a court retains the final say on what is reasonable.
The attorney fee above is separate from what the court itself charges just to open the case, see the Kansas probate filing fee.