Maryland Co-Personal Representatives: How Is the Fee Split?

Quick answer: No, Maryland co-personal representatives don't each collect a separate 9%/3.6% ceiling. Est. & Trusts § 7-601 caps the commission for the estate's administration as a whole — the statute doesn't contain a numbered provision specifically addressing multiple personal representatives the way Missouri's does, so the single statutory ceiling applies to the total, which the Orphans' Court then allocates among however many personal representatives are serving. Estimate the total ceiling first with the Maryland executor fee calculator.

One ceiling for the estate, not per person

Real, practical coordination risk

Co-personal representatives share fiduciary duties, and each must join in filing the estate's accounts with the Register of Wills. Naming more than one person to the role is a common source of friction — disagreements about pace, priorities, or how to handle a difficult beneficiary can slow administration and, in some cases, lead to litigation. This is a practical consideration worth weighing before appointing co-personal representatives, independent of how their commission is eventually divided.

Division follows the same "reasonable" framework

Because Maryland's statute doesn't spell out a specific split formula, the Orphans' Court applying the general "reasonable compensation" standard of § 7-601(a)(1) to however the co-personal representatives actually performed the work is the most defensible approach — consistent with how Maryland courts otherwise apply that standard to a single personal representative. There's no reason to expect an automatic even split if the contributions were genuinely unequal.

Attorney fees still share the combined cap

Whether one personal representative serves or several, § 7-602(c)'s rule — that commission and attorney fees together can't exceed a reasonable total cost of administering the estate — still applies. Multiple co-personal representatives don't multiply the room available for attorney fees; the combined-reasonableness ceiling still looks at the estate's administration as a whole.

Worked example

Two siblings serve as co-personal representatives of a $300,000 Maryland estate. The statutory ceiling for the estate's administration is $11,880 (9% of $20,000 + 3.6% of $280,000).

In every scenario, the total the Orphans' Court can allow stays capped at $11,880 — only the division between the two co-personal representatives changes.

Maryland co-personal representatives — frequently asked questions