Quick answer: N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-19 gives a personal representative "reasonable compensation for the personal representative's services" — and that's essentially the entire operative rule. No percentage, no schedule, and unlike South Dakota's seven factors or Delaware's eleven, North Dakota's statute lists no factors at all for weighing reasonableness. Get an illustrative estimate with the North Dakota executor fee calculator.
The bare Uniform Probate Code text, unamended
N.D.C.C. § 30.1-18-19 (UPC § 3-719): "A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for the personal representative's services." North Dakota's section header itself cross-references the original Uniform Probate Code section number, and the operative text tracks that original model act closely — without the additional factor lists that many other UPC-adopting states added when they enacted their own versions.
Renouncing a will's compensation term
§ 30.1-18-19, continued: "If a will provides for compensation of the personal representative and there is no contract with the decedent regarding compensation, the personal representative may renounce the provision before qualifying and be entitled to reasonable compensation. A personal representative also may renounce the personal representative's right to all or any part of the compensation. A written renunciation of fee may be filed with the court."
Court review: three separate triggers
§ 30.1-18-21: "After notice to all interested persons, or on petition of an interested person, or on appropriate motion if administration is supervised, the propriety of employment of any person by a personal representative, including any attorney, auditor, investment adviser, or other specialized agent or assistant, the reasonableness of the compensation of any person so employed, or the reasonableness of the compensation determined by the personal representative for that person's own services, including services rendered as attorney, may be reviewed by the court." Three distinct paths bring the question before a judge — general notice, a specific petition, or a motion in supervised administration.
Excessive compensation can be ordered refunded
§ 30.1-18-21, continued: "Any person who has received excessive compensation from an estate for services rendered may be ordered to make appropriate refunds." This applies not just to the personal representative but to any agent, attorney, or other person the estate paid.
The percentage-fee disclosure rule for attorneys
§ 30.1-18-21, continued: "If the amount of attorney's fees is based upon the value of the decedent's estate, the fee agreement must be in writing and mailed to all parties who are heirs of the estate pursuant to the last will and testament of the decedent. If the decedent died intestate, notice must be provided to all heirs of the estate in accordance with chapter 30.1-03." This applies specifically to attorney fees calculated as a percentage of estate value — not to the personal representative's own compensation, which remains governed purely by the reasonableness standard.
Litigation expenses, kept separate
§ 30.1-18-20: "If any personal representative or person nominated as personal representative defends or prosecutes any proceeding in good faith, whether successful or not, the personal representative or nominee is entitled to receive from the estate necessary expenses and disbursements, including reasonable attorney's fees incurred." This is a distinct entitlement from ordinary compensation for administering the estate.
A sense of typical figures
Practitioners and legal-directory sources commonly cite a rough working range around 2% to 3% of estate value for informal estimation purposes, though this is informal market practice, not anything written into the statute — § 30.1-18-19 itself never mentions a percentage.
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