Attorney for Property Compensation in Ontario: What You Can Charge

Acting as someone's attorney for property in Ontario can mean years of unpaid work — tracking bills, managing investments, filing paperwork — and many attorneys are surprised to learn they're legally entitled to be paid for it. Attorney for property compensation in Ontario follows a specific formula set out in regulation, not a number you pick yourself. Understanding that formula, and documenting it properly, is what stands between a fair fee and a fight with the rest of the family.

This article covers the statutory guideline that applies to attorneys for property and guardians of property, and how to support your entitlement if it's ever questioned.

The Statutory Compensation Guideline

Compensation for an attorney for property (and for a court-appointed guardian of property) is set under a regulation made under the Substitute Decisions Act, rather than left to whatever the attorney thinks is fair. As of mid-2026, that formula is built from three components — verify the current figures before relying on them, as regulated rates can change.

Breaking Down What Each Piece Means

The receipts and disbursements percentages are applied to money coming into and going out of the grantor's accounts under your management — for example, deposits, investment income, bill payments, and transfers. The care-and-management component is different: it's calculated annually as a small percentage of the average value of assets you're overseeing that year, reflecting the ongoing work of managing property even when nothing is being received or paid out.

Together, these three pieces are meant to compensate an attorney for the actual administrative work involved — not to hand over a windfall share of the grantor's estate.

This Is a Guideline, Not an Automatic Entitlement

It's worth being precise here: this formula is a widely referenced benchmark, but compensation for an attorney for property isn't something you simply calculate and take unilaterally without any checks. Whether — and how — you're entitled to compensation can also depend on what the Power of Attorney document itself says, and the amount can ultimately be reviewed and adjusted by a court if it's challenged. Taking compensation without a clear basis for it is one of the fastest ways to draw a fiduciary complaint from other family members.

Documenting Your Right to Compensation

Because an attorney for property is a fiduciary, sloppy records around compensation create real risk — both of a family dispute and of having to repay amounts later. Before taking any compensation, an attorney should be able to show:

• [ ] A clear accounting of all receipts and disbursements the compensation is calculated against
• [ ] The specific calculation used for each component of the formula, in writing
• [ ] Whether the Power of Attorney document itself addresses compensation, and what it says
• [ ] A record of when compensation was taken (regularly, rather than as one lump sum at the end)
• [ ] Supporting bank and investment records that can be produced if accounts are ever questioned

Keeping this documentation as you go — not reconstructing it years later — is the single best protection an attorney has if compensation is ever disputed.

When Compensation Can Be Challenged

Family members, or the grantor themselves if still capable of raising the issue, can question compensation an attorney has taken. Because the formula is a guideline rather than a fixed statutory right, a court retains the power to review what was taken and adjust it — up or down — if it isn't satisfied the amount was fair and reasonable in the circumstances. This is one of several reasons attorneys are often required, or well advised, to formally account for their management of the property.

Frequently asked questions