Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: Minnesota has no percentage fee schedule for the personal representative or the attorney. Section 524.3-719 says compensation must be reasonable, judged by the time and labor required, the complexity and novelty of the problems involved, and the responsibilities assumed and results obtained, and Minnesota courts apply that same framework to the estate’s attorney.
Section 524.3-719’s three factors, not a percentage
Section 524.3-719(a) entitles a personal representative to reasonable compensation for services, and 524.3-719(b) directs the court, in determining reasonable compensation, to consider the time and labor required, the complexity and novelty of the problems involved, and the extent of the responsibilities assumed and results obtained. No percentage or dollar formula appears in the section.
Section 524.3-721 lets anyone ask a court to test the attorney’s bill
Minnesota’s companion review statute, section 524.3-721, lets an interested person petition the court, after notice, to review the propriety of employing any person by a personal representative, including an attorney, and the reasonableness of that person’s compensation, with the court able to order a refund of any amount found excessive.
Minnesota will pay a non-representative’s attorney too, if the work benefited the estate
Section 524.3-720 provides that when an interested person’s attorney, someone other than the personal representative’s own counsel, recovers estate assets or otherwise provides a benefit to the estate, that attorney shall be paid compensation from the estate as the court deems just and reasonable and commensurate with the benefit to the estate, a genuine extension beyond simply paying whichever lawyer the personal representative happened to hire.
The rest of the arithmetic: Minnesota 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 Minnesota probate filing fee.