How Much Can an Executor Be Paid in Alberta? Compensation Rules

If you have been named executor, you may be wondering whether you can be paid for the work, and how much. The work can be heavy: gathering assets, paying debts, dealing with notices and eventually distributing what is left.

If you are a beneficiary, you may be looking at the other side of the same question: is what the executor is taking fair? This article explains how compensation works in Alberta, what shapes it, and how it can be reviewed.

This article covers the law of Alberta.

What the Alberta rules say about pay

In Alberta, the person who administers an estate is called a personal representative. Schedule 1 of the Surrogate Rules says personal representatives may receive fair and reasonable compensation for their responsibility in administering an estate.

The rule does not set a percentage or a fixed fee. You may hear a round percentage mentioned in conversation, but it is not a figure found in the Rules, so treat it as commentary rather than an entitlement.

The compensation covers all the services needed to complete the administration, including distribution. Compensation for the care and management of property applies only where property is not distributed outright at death and the trust has not been varied.

What makes compensation reasonable

The Rules list factors to weigh when deciding what is fair:

• The gross value of the estate.
• The receipts and disbursements.
• How complex the administration is.
• The skill required.
• The time spent.
• Tasks that were delegated to others.
• The number of personal representatives named.

The Rules also allow additional compensation for extra roles, such as managing a business, dealing with unusual difficulties or instructing on litigation. A simple estate with one bank account will usually justify less than an estate with a running business and a dispute.

A personal representative with a professional skill level, such as a trust company, must exercise that higher skill when acting professionally. That can be relevant when comparing what a professional and a family member should be paid.

When the will sets the amount

If the will fixes the compensation, no greater amount can be charged or allowed unless the affected beneficiaries agree to vary it or the court orders it.

This matters in practice. An executor who wants more than the will provides cannot simply take it. The agreement of the affected beneficiaries, or a court order, is needed first.

How beneficiaries can review or challenge pay

Compensation is easier to assess when the numbers are visible. A personal representative must prepare financial statements of money and property received, distributed and paid out, and give them to the beneficiaries. Unless the court orders a different period, an accounting is due every 2 years after the date of death or the end of the last accounting period.

If you are not satisfied, the options include the following.

• Ask the court to require an accounting at any time; the court may also require one itself.
• Apply for an order requiring a formal passing of accounts, which a person interested in the estate may do.
• Apply to the court for directions at any time.

There are limits. A beneficiary of only a specific gift is entitled to an accounting limited to that gift, and if they have already received it, they may not apply for an accounting order under rule 97(3).

An executor can also use the process. A personal representative may apply for a formal passing of accounts, with notice of the hearing served one month or more before the hearing. A personal representative may instead apply for an order dispensing with the formal passing. If a person interested in the estate applies for a formal passing, the reply is filed 10 days or more before any hearing.

What to do next

• Check whether the will fixes compensation, and read that clause carefully.
• Keep a running record of time spent, tasks done and any work you delegated.
• Keep clear records of money received and paid out so accounts can be prepared.
• Talk to the beneficiaries early about what you plan to claim, and put any agreement in writing.
• If you are a beneficiary, remember that the court may be asked to require an accounting at any time, and that a beneficiary of only a specific gift has an accounting limited to that gift.

Because the test is what is fair in the circumstances, it is worth speaking with a lawyer before you take payment or before you object to it.

Frequently asked questions