What's EXCLUDED from compensable value? Why isn't my revocable trust counted?

F.S. § 733.617(5) makes clear that non-probate assets are not part of the PR's compensable base. The major categories: (1) assets held in a FUNDED revocable living trust pass under the Florida Trust Code (F.S. Chapter 736) and are administered by the trustee, not by the personal representative — so the PR has no administrative responsibility for them and no compensation runs against them; (2) joint tenancy with right of survivorship and tenancy-by-the-entireties property passes to the surviving joint owner by operation of law; (3) transfer-on-death (TOD) and pay-on-death (POD) account designations pass by contract; (4) beneficiary-designated retirement accounts (IRA, 401(k), 403(b)) paying to a named individual or trust pass by contract; (5) life insurance payable to a named beneficiary passes by contract; (6) real property outside Florida is administered in the situs state. An UNFUNDED revocable trust does NOT exclude the assets — the assets must have been actually retitled to the trustee during life. Trust funding is the single most-frequently-skipped step in Florida estate planning.

Can the heirs negotiate the PR fee down? Can the decedent override the statutory schedule?

Yes, in three ways. First, F.S. § 733.617(8) authorizes the decedent to override the statutory schedule by will or written contract with the decedent — the decedent can specify a higher fee (e.g., for a professional fiduciary), a lower fee, or a flat-fee arrangement, and the override controls. Second, § 733.617(8) also allows a beneficiary to waive PR compensation in writing, which is common when a family member is serving as PR for an estate going to other family members and wants to take nothing. Third, the § 733.617(3) schedule is itself a rebuttable presumption under § 733.617(6) — interested persons can ask the court to deviate downward if the PR's services were inefficient, partial, or otherwise less than the statute presumes. The presumption can also be rebutted upward, though that is less common.

We have two co-personal representatives. Does the fee double?

No. F.S. § 733.617(7) is explicit: when two or more personal representatives are serving jointly, they are entitled together to a single compensation under the (3) schedule. The fee is SHARED, not multiplied. The court may award separate compensation to each PR if the services rendered justify it (typical in complex estates with formal divisions of responsibility — one PR handling tax returns, another running a business interest, for example), but the default rule produces a single shared fee that the co-PRs allocate between themselves. The calculator models the default rule; it does not multiply the statutory fee by the number of PRs.

What counts as 'extraordinary services'?

F.S. § 733.617(2) lists categories of work that go beyond ordinary administration and can support additional, court-discretionary compensation on top of the (3) statutory fee: (a) sale of real or personal property; (b) participation in tax proceedings or audits; (c) preparation of the estate's federal or Florida tax returns; (d) carrying on the decedent's business or profession; (e) prosecuting or defending claims by or against the estate; (f) legal advice regarding the homestead status of real property; (g) involvement in will contests, will construction, determination of beneficiaries, and similar litigation; (h) work in connection with elective-share proceedings; (i) any other services not ordinarily required in the administration of the estate. The amount is reasonable compensation determined by the court — not formula-driven — and typically must be supported by detailed time records. Uncontested estates with no business interest, no tax controversy, and no real-estate sales typically have zero extraordinary services.

Is the § 733.617(3) schedule a ceiling, a floor, or just a presumption?

It is a rebuttable presumption — neither a ceiling nor a floor. F.S. § 733.617(6) provides that compensation paid under the (3) schedule is "presumed to be reasonable." Interested persons can ask the court to deviate either upward or downward by rebutting the presumption with evidence that the schedule produces an unreasonable result on the facts of the particular estate. Common bases to argue downward deviation: the PR delegated most of the substantive work to counsel or to a professional accountant; the PR failed to discharge fiduciary duties; the estate was administratively simple and the schedule produces a windfall. Common bases to argue upward deviation: the PR personally performed work that would ordinarily be done by paid professionals; the estate required extraordinary efficiency or expertise that the schedule does not credit. In practice, most uncontested fee petitions are approved at the statutory amount.

Does an out-of-state personal representative get the same fee?

The compensation schedule under § 733.617(3) does not distinguish between Florida-resident and out-of-state PRs — the statutory fee is the same. However, F.S. § 733.304 limits who may serve as a Florida PR: a non-resident must be a relative of the decedent within the categories enumerated by statute (spouse, sibling, descendant, ancestor, etc.) OR a Florida-licensed attorney, CPA, or financial professional, OR a Florida-licensed bank or trust company. Non-residents who do qualify to serve must also designate a Florida resident agent for service of process under § 733.506, and may be required to post a bond under § 733.402. Out-of-state PRs frequently engage Florida co-counsel and may delegate more administrative work, which is a common factual basis for an interested person to argue for downward deviation from the statutory schedule under § 733.617(6).

Family PR versus corporate trustee — does the calculator change?

The statutory schedule is the same whether the PR is the decedent's adult child, a Florida-licensed attorney, or a corporate fiduciary like a bank trust department. What changes in practice is the will-or-contract override under § 733.617(8). Corporate fiduciaries virtually always require the decedent to execute a written compensation agreement up front that displaces the statutory schedule with the corporate fiduciary's own published fee schedule — typically an annual basis-points-on-assets-under-administration arrangement that produces a different number than the one-time statutory percentage. Family PRs commonly serve under the statutory schedule (or waive compensation entirely under § 733.617(8) if everything is going to other family members anyway). The calculator's output models the statutory schedule; the override agreement is fact-specific.

Reviewed against F.S. § 733.617 (personal representative compensation, including (2) extraordinary services, (3) statutory fee schedule, (5) non-probate exclusion, (6) rebuttable presumption, (7) multiple PRs, (8) will/contract override and beneficiary waiver); F.S. § 733.6171 (attorney compensation — separate parallel schedule); F.S. Chapter 736 (Florida Trust Code, governs excluded revocable trust assets); F.S. § 734.102 (ancillary administration for out-of-state assets)

Florida Personal Representative Compensation Calculator

Q: What about the attorney's fee? Is that the same calculation?

No — and this is one of the most-misunderstood points in Florida probate. The attorney's compensation under F.S. § 733.6171 is on a SEPARATE schedule from the PR's compensation under § 733.617. The two schedules are structurally parallel (both run against the estate, both are tier-based, both are rebuttable presumptions of reasonableness) but the numbers are different. The attorney schedule has flat-fee bands on the first three tiers ($1,500 / $2,250 / $3,000 on estates up to $40K / $70K / $100K respectively), then percentage tiers (3% / 2.5% / 2% / 1.5% / 1%) layered against the rest. The attorney schedule also uses a slightly different definition of the fee base — it generally runs against the inventory value (similar to the PR base) plus income earned during administration. For the attorney's fee, use the Florida Probate Costs Calculator on this site, which models § 733.6171 separately. Summary administration under F.S. § 735.201 has no PR appointment and so no PR fee applies; if you are looking at a summary-administration matter, this calculator's output is zero.

Estimate the Florida personal representative's (PR's) presumptively reasonable compensation under F.S. § 733.617(3). Computes the four-tier statutory fee (3% of the first $1M, 2.5% of the next $4M, 2% of the next $5M, 1.5% above $10M) applied to the compensable value of the probate inventory — gross estate less funded revocable trust assets, JTWROS / tenancy-by-the-entireties property, transfer-on-death and pay-on-death designations, beneficiary-designated retirement accounts, life insurance to named beneficiaries, and real property outside Florida. Also surfaces the court-discretionary extraordinary-services add-on under § 733.617(2), the multiple-PR shared-fee rule under § 733.617(7), and the will-or-contract override under § 733.617(8).

Calculator

Adjust the inputs below; the result updates instantly.

Estate value

Gross estate value at death ($)

$2,000,000

Exclusions

Non-probate assets ($)

Real property outside Florida ($)

Administration

Number of personal representatives serving

Extraordinary services planning estimate ($)

Statutory PR fee (F.S. § 733.617(3))

55,000.00

Extraordinary services add-on (F.S. § 733.617(2)): $0.00
Effective rate (% of compensable value): 2.75%
Compensable value (probate inventory base): $2,000,000.00
Summary: Statutory PR compensation under F.S. § 733.617(3): $55,000 (effective rate 2.75% on the $2,000,000 compensable base). Total PR compensation: $55,000. All of the $2,000,000 gross estate is treated as compensable value (no non-probate or out-of-Florida exclusions entered). The § 733.617(3) schedule is a rebuttable presumption of reasonableness under § 733.617(6); the decedent's will or written contract may override under § 733.617(8); and the attorney's compensation under F.S. § 733.6171 is computed on a different (parallel but distinct) schedule and is separate from the PR's compensation.

Tools to go with this

Serving as a Florida personal representative? Get the F.S. § 733.617 compensation worksheet.

Fennec Press's Florida real-estate bundle includes the F.S. § 733.617(3) statutory-tier worksheet for PR compensation, the (2) extraordinary-services scope memo (which engagements qualify and which are ordinary administration), the (5) non-probate exclusion checklist (funded revocable trust, JTWROS, TOD/POD, retirement, life insurance), the (7) multiple-PR fee-sharing analysis, and the (8) will-or-contract override review template — built for Florida probate attorneys, personal representatives, and beneficiaries reviewing PR compensation petitions.

Open Fennec Press real-estate bundle→

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How this calculator works

The personal representative — the executor of a Florida formal-administration probate proceeding under Chapter 733 — is entitled to reasonable compensation for serving in the role. Florida is one of a handful of states that publishes a statutory schedule for what "reasonable" means in dollar terms. F.S. § 733.617(3) lays out a four-tier percentage schedule that is "presumed to be reasonable" for ordinary services. This calculator applies that schedule to the compensable value of the probate inventory and surfaces the layered tier-by-tier math so you can see exactly where each dollar of fee comes from.

The four headline outputs:

Statutory PR fee under F.S. § 733.617(3). The number the court will approve absent a showing that the presumption should be rebutted.
Extraordinary services add-on under F.S. § 733.617(2). User-entered planning estimate for court-discretionary additional compensation.
Total PR compensation — statutory fee plus extraordinary add-on. Shared among co-PRs under § 733.617(7), not multiplied.
Effective rate of the statutory fee as a percentage of compensable value. A single-number sanity check that should land between 1.5% (largest estates) and 3% (smallest).

The F.S. § 733.617(3) tier schedule

Florida's PR compensation schedule has four tiers, each layered marginally on the slice of compensable value within the tier:

3% of the first $1,000,000 of compensable value
2.5% of the next $4,000,000 (compensable value from $1M to $5M)
2% of the next $5,000,000 (compensable value from $5M to $10M)
1.5% of compensable value above $10,000,000

The cumulative landmarks the calculator hits at each tier boundary:

At $1,000,000 compensable value: $30,000 total PR fee (3% × $1M).
At $5,000,000 compensable value: $130,000 total PR fee ($30K + 2.5% × $4M = $30K + $100K).
At $10,000,000 compensable value: $230,000 total PR fee ($130K + 2% × $5M = $130K + $100K).
Each additional $1M above $10M adds $15,000 to the fee (1.5%).

The schedule structurally parallels the F.S. § 733.6171(3) attorney fee schedule — both are tier-based, both are rebuttable presumptions of reasonableness, both run against the probate inventory — but the numbers are different and the two compensations are entirely separate. The PR fee schedule has no flat-fee bands on small estates; it is percentage-based from dollar one.

What "compensable value" means — and what's excluded

The most important number in this calculator is the compensable value, because that is the base the schedule runs against. The compensable value is NOT the gross estate. It is the inventory value of the probate assets — the assets the PR actually administers under Chapter 733.

Included in compensable value (the PR has administrative responsibility, so the fee runs against these assets):

Bank and brokerage accounts in the decedent's individual name (no joint owner, no TOD or POD designation).
Non-homestead Florida real property held individually.
Individually-titled vehicles, vessels, and tangible personal property.
Business interests in the decedent's individual name.

Excluded under F.S. § 733.617(5) and basic probate-versus-non-probate analysis (the PR has no administrative responsibility, so the fee does NOT run against these assets):

Assets in a funded revocable living trust. These pass under the Florida Trust Code (F.S. Chapter 736), administered by the trustee — not by the PR. This is the single largest exclusion in modern Florida estate planning.
Joint tenancy with right of survivorship (JTWROS) and tenancy by the entireties property. Passes to the surviving joint owner by operation of law at death.
Transfer-on-death (TOD) and pay-on-death (POD) account designations. Pass by contract to the named beneficiary.
Beneficiary-designated retirement accounts (IRA, 401(k), 403(b)) paying to a named individual or trust. Pass by contract.
Life insurance payable to a named beneficiary. Passes by contract.
Real property located outside Florida. Administered under the situs state's law (typically via ancillary administration there); not part of the Florida PR's base.

The practical result: two decedents with identical gross estates can produce wildly different PR fees depending on how they titled their assets during life. A $5M estate held entirely in a funded revocable trust generates zero PR compensation because there is no probate inventory at all. A $5M estate held entirely in individual-name accounts produces the full $130,000 statutory fee. Trust funding during life is one of the most-frequently-skipped — and most-economically-significant — steps in Florida estate planning.

Worked example one: $2M estate, $800K outside probate

A Florida decedent dies leaving a $2,000,000 gross estate. The breakdown:

$1,200,000 in individual-name bank and brokerage accounts and personal property.
$500,000 in a funded revocable living trust.
$300,000 in a 401(k) paying to the decedent's named-beneficiary spouse.

The non-probate exclusions total $800,000 (trust + 401(k)), so the compensable value is $1,200,000. Walking the schedule:

Tier 1 (3% on the first $1,000,000): $30,000.
Tier 2 (2.5% on the next $200,000): $5,000.
Statutory fee: $35,000.
Effective rate: $35,000 / $1,200,000 = approximately 2.92%.

If we adjust the numbers slightly — the same family, but the revocable trust holds $1,000,000 instead of $500,000 (and the bank-and-brokerage individual accounts shrink to $700,000) — the compensable value falls to $700,000 and the statutory fee drops to $21,000. The decedent's choice of titling has just saved the estate $14,000 in PR compensation.

Worked example two: $12M decedent, $11M trust

A wealthy decedent dies leaving $12,000,000 in total assets, but $11,000,000 of it sits in a fully-funded revocable trust. The PR's compensable inventory is $1,000,000. The fee:

Tier 1 (3% on the first $1,000,000): $30,000.
Tiers 2, 3, and 4 do not apply because there is no compensable value above $1M.
Statutory fee: $30,000. Effective rate exactly 3%.

Note what did NOT happen: the PR did not collect $230,000 (the fee for a $10M compensable estate) or $305,000 (the fee for a $15M compensable estate). The fee runs against the probate inventory only, not the gross estate. The trust assets generate separate trustee compensation under F.S. § 736.0708 of the Florida Trust Code, which the trustee — possibly the same person as the PR — collects on a different but parallel "reasonable compensation" basis.

Multiple personal representatives: a single shared fee

F.S. § 733.617(7) is unambiguous: when two or more PRs serve jointly, they are entitled together to a single compensation under the (3) schedule. The fee is shared, not multiplied. Three siblings serving as co-PRs of a $2,000,000 compensable estate collect $55,000 between them — they do not each collect $55,000 for a combined $165,000.

The court does have authority under § 733.617(7) to award separate compensation to each PR if "the services required are sufficient to justify the compensation of more than one personal representative." That ruling is fact-specific and typically requires a formal allocation of responsibility — for example, one PR running a decedent's business while another handles tax returns. The default rule produces a single shared fee, and the calculator models the default.

Will provisions can override the statutory schedule

F.S. § 733.617(8) lets the decedent override the statutory schedule by will or by written contract with the decedent. The override can go either direction:

Upward — common when the decedent names a professional fiduciary (a corporate trust department, a Florida-licensed attorney serving as PR) who has a published fee schedule that runs higher than § 733.617(3). The will or a separate written compensation agreement displaces the statute.
Downward — common when a family member is serving as PR for an estate going to other family members and the decedent specified a flat fee or a percentage lower than the statutory schedule.
To zero — § 733.617(8) also authorizes a beneficiary to waive PR compensation in writing. This is very common in family estates where one sibling serves as PR and waives the fee so the entire estate flows to the beneficiaries.

The calculator's output models the statutory schedule. If the decedent's will or a written compensation agreement specifies a different number, that number controls.

Attorney's compensation is a different calculation

The attorney's compensation under F.S. § 733.6171 is on a separate (parallel but structurally different) schedule from the PR's compensation. The attorney's schedule has flat-fee bands on the first three tiers ($1,500 / $2,250 / $3,000 on estates up to $40K / $70K / $100K respectively), then percentage tiers (3% / 2.5% / 2% / 1.5% / 1%) layered against the rest. Both compensations are paid from the estate; both reduce what ultimately distributes to the beneficiaries. For the attorney's fee, use the Florida Probate Costs Calculator, which models § 733.6171 separately. This calculator handles only the PR's compensation under § 733.617.

Extraordinary services under § 733.617(2)

F.S. § 733.617(2) authorizes the court to award additional compensation for work that goes beyond ordinary administration. The statute enumerates the categories:

Sale of real or personal property.
Participation in tax proceedings or audits.
Preparation of the estate's federal or Florida tax returns (Form 706, Form 1041).
Carrying on the decedent's business or profession.
Prosecuting or defending claims by or against the estate.
Legal advice regarding the homestead status of real property.
Involvement in will contests, will construction proceedings, determination of beneficiaries, and similar litigation.
Work in connection with elective-share proceedings under F.S. § 732.201.
Any other services not ordinarily required in the administration of the estate.

The amount is court-discretionary on a reasonable-compensation basis and is typically supported by detailed time records. The statute does not provide a formula. Uncontested estates with no business interest, no tax controversy, and no real-estate sales typically have zero extraordinary services and zero add-on. Contested or business-operating estates can see add-ons that exceed the underlying statutory fee. The calculator exposes the extraordinary-services amount as a user-entered planning estimate so a PR or counsel can sensitivity-test the total.

Common errors

A few patterns we see consistently when reviewing PR-compensation petitions:

Treating the gross estate as the fee base. The schedule runs against compensable value, not gross estate. Pre-funded revocable trust assets, JTWROS property, TOD/POD accounts, named-beneficiary retirement, and life insurance to named beneficiaries are all excluded. Out-of-Florida real property is also excluded.
Multiplying the fee by the number of co-PRs. F.S. § 733.617(7) is explicit: co-PRs share a single fee under the default rule.
Forgetting the will-or-contract override. F.S. § 733.617(8) lets the decedent specify any number, including zero. The first question on any PR fee petition should be: did the decedent specify compensation in the will, or is there a separate written compensation agreement?
Confusing PR compensation with attorney compensation. Different statute (§ 733.617 vs § 733.6171), different schedule, different base. Both run against the same estate and both reduce what beneficiaries ultimately receive, but they are computed separately.
Treating extraordinary services as a fixed formula. The (2) add-on is court-discretionary reasonable compensation — not a fixed percentage. It requires factual support and is typically a fight on contested petitions.

How this page is maintained

The substantive statutory framework — F.S. § 733.617 and its subsections — has been stable in its current form since the Florida Trust Code modernization in 2006 carried the parallel attorney-compensation schedule into § 733.6171. The four-tier PR schedule in § 733.617(3) has not been amended materially since. We monitor each Florida legislative session for any change to Chapter 733 and refresh this page within the quarter after a material amendment.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-15 against F.S. § 733.617 (including subsections (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), and (8)).

FAQ

Common questions

Edge cases and clarifications around florida personal representative compensation calculator.

The compensable value is the inventory value of probate assets — the assets the personal representative actually administers under F.S. Chapter 733. That includes bank and brokerage accounts in the decedent's individual name (no joint owner, no TOD or POD designation), non-homestead Florida real property held individually, individually-titled vehicles and tangible personal property, business interests in the decedent's individual name, and any other asset that passes through the probate inventory. The F.S. § 733.617(3) schedule runs against this number, not against the decedent's gross estate. As a result, two decedents with identical gross estates can have very different PR fees depending on how the assets were titled.

Resources

Links marked sponsoredmay earn TheFennecLab a commission. They do not affect the calculator's output. See disclosures.

Florida DBPR Online Sunshine — F.S. § 733.617 (PR compensation) — primary statute governing the Florida personal representative's compensation
Florida DBPR Online Sunshine — F.S. § 733.6171 (attorney compensation) — attorney's separate, parallel-but-different compensation schedule
Florida Probate Rules — Florida Bar — procedural rules governing Florida probate practice (notice, accountings, fee petitions)
Florida DBPR Online Sunshine — F.S. § 734.102 (ancillary administration) — ancillary administration for out-of-state decedents (out-of-Florida real property is excluded from the Florida PR base)
Florida DBPR Online Sunshine — F.S. Chapter 736 (Florida Trust Code) — governs funded revocable trust property (excluded from PR compensable value)
The Florida Bar — Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section — Florida probate practitioner section — practice guides, forms, and CLE on PR compensation
Florida Probate Code (F.S. Chapter 733) — Online Sunshine index — full chapter index for Florida formal-administration probate, including § 733.617