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

[Brent Williams-Ruth]

Jakob -

I have never dealt with this issue before but I want to believe that the
Court would strike this down as being void as to public policy grounds.
Being an Executor/PR/Administrator is a job. There are legal duties,
responsibilities, obligations, and penalties if not done right. To force
someone to do a job without the ability to take compensation, especially in
those difficult matters, would seem illogical. If all the parties wanted to
throw up their hands and bring in a neutral - would they expect a
professional to do it for free because the Will says so?

Honestly, I would reach out to our local professionals and see if they have
ever encountered this because I just don't know how that term could be
enforced.

As always when I have nothing to back me up, I could be entirely wrong and
would love to see someone else who may have had to bring this to the Court
to weigh in.

*Brent Williams-Ruth* (pronouns: he/him)
*Attorney-At-Law*

*Law Offices of Brent Williams-Ruth, **a division of BWR Consulting, PLLC*

*Physical Address: 500 S 336th Street, Suite 214; Federal Way, WA 98003*

*Mailing Address: **PO BOX 3319; Federal Way, WA 98063 *

Office/Scheduling Phone: (253) 285-7751

For All Meetings & Scheduling: info at williams-ruthlaw.com

e-mail <Brent at Williams-RuthLaw.com> / website
<http://www.williams-ruthlaw.com/> / facebook
<http://www.facebook.com/bwrlaw> /


On Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM Jake Seegmuller <jake at nwlegacylaw.com>
wrote:

> 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.
>
>
>
> * Jakob O. Seegmuller *(he/him)
>
>  Attorney
>
>  nwlegacylaw.com | 360-975-7770
>
>
>
>
> ***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not
> restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing
> attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields, and
> others.***
> _______________________________________________
> WSBAPT mailing list
> WSBAPT at lists.wsbarppt.com
> http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbapt
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20251121/cd9e0632/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.png
Type: image/png
Size: 13921 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbapt/attachments/20251121/cd9e0632/image001.png>