[WSBAPT] PR Fee if Will Prohibits PR Taking a Fee

[Jake Seegmuller]

Hello learned listserv members,

We have another unusual situation here wherein the Will of the decedent prohibits the personal representative from taking a fee. This is clearly an internet Will that the decedent modified and had properly executed. At issue here is that all the named executors failed to act, and another family member (our client) stepped forward to administer the Estate (the PR is a beneficiary by operation of a named beneficiary's death).

The PR was appointed with nonintervention powers. The other beneficiaries have been challenging to work with throughout the administration, so the PR is interested in collecting a fee for her time and effort. I'm aware of statutory provisions for the PR to renounce a fee when it is inappropriate, but I want to understand how RCW 11.48.210 comes into play when the Will prohibits a fee. I read the following section as permitting the Court to award a fee even when "no compensation is provided in the will" to cover our situation. This tracks with the broad authority Courts have to determine whether a fee is just and reasonable. But I could also see this as only applying the absence of any direction in the Will on a PR fee.

RCW 11.48.210: The personal representative, when no compensation is provided in the will, or when he or she renounces all claim to the compensation provided in the will, shall be allowed such compensation for his or her services as the court shall deem just and reasonable.

Any thoughts or insights are appreciated on or off list.

[cid:image001.png at 01DC5AF7.90E87E50]
 Jakob O. Seegmuller (he/him)
 Attorney
 nwlegacylaw.com | 360-975-7770


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