While estate executors can set a reasonable fee for their services the executors in the Leona Helmsley estate have found their $100 million fee challenged.
The financial controversies surrounding “Queen of Mean” Leona Helmsley continue even after her death with large amounts of money left to her charitable foundation as well as her dog and now a $100 million bill from executors for handling her estate
While there certainly was a lot of work that had to be done on the estate, the New York Attorney General’s office points out that the fee amounts to $6,347 per hour worked. The attorney general is requesting that the court lower the fee to an hourly rate of $628.
Nevertheless, even with the reduced hourly rate, the total bill would be slightly less than $10 million.
The New York Post reported on this story in “State AG challenges $100M fee charged on Queen of Mean’s estate.”
Executor’s fees are handled by the states differently. In some states the amount that can be charged is set by law and depends on the total size of the estate. Other states have no specific rule and allow courts to determine if a requested fee is reasonable. Some states also allow for the fee to be set in the will and generally do not allow the executor to ask for more than that amount.
An estate planning attorney can help with your estate as well as keep you informed on how executor fees are handled in your area.
Reference: New York Post (Jan. 21, 2016) “State AG challenges $100M fee charged on Queen of Mean’s estate.”
