July 7, 2021

There are two primary sources that contribute to executor fees in New Jersey: corpus commissions and income commissions. Corpus includes every asset received by the executor at the time of the decedent’s death. The executor is therefore entitled to a charge on a percentage basis associated with the size of the estate.

For estates up to $200,000 in value this fee allowed is 5%. For the amounts between $200,000 and $1 million, that fee is 3.5% and for amounts $1 million up that fee is 2%. Income commission is associated with income generated by the estate. A New Jersey executor is eligible to receive 6% of all income received per NJSA 3(b):18-13.

Executors can also charge at least 1/5th of the 1% of the trust corpus each year as corpus commission for an estate that lasts longer than one year. It can be beneficial to retain the services of an experienced estate planning lawyer when crafting your own estate so that you can understand how an executor’s fees could influence the overall value inside the estate.         

If you have a specific opinion on how you want your executor to get paid, you need to discuss this with your estate planning lawyer as you put together a plan for your will. The more clarity you bring to the situation, the easier it will be for your executor to go into this role understanding your intentions. When an executor knows your plans for them to get paid as well as the tasks associated with closing out probate, all of the tasks are likely to be completed effectively and efficiently.