Wis. Stat. § 857.05
Allowances to personal representative for expenses and services
Find cases:
SyfertCases citing this section
WI-LEGdocs.legis.wisconsin.gov
JustiaChapter on Justia
CornellLII Search
CasesGoogle Scholar
857.05(1)(1) Expenses. The personal representative shall be allowed all necessary expenses in the care, management and settlement of the estate.
857.05(2)(2) Services. Subject to the approval of the court the personal representative shall be allowed for his or her services commissions computed on the inventory value of the property for which the personal representative is accountable less any mortgages or liens plus net principal gains in the estate proceedings at a rate of 2 percent or a rate that the decedent and the personal representative, or the persons who receive the majority interest in the estate and the personal representative, agree to in writing; and such further sums in cases of unusual difficulty or extraordinary services as the court determines reasonable. If a personal representative is derelict in duty, his or her compensation for services may be reduced or denied.
857.05(3)(3) Attorney fees and commissions. If the personal representative or any law firm with which the personal representative is associated also serves as attorney for the decedent’s estate, the court may allow him or her either executor’s commissions, (including sums for any extraordinary services as set forth in sub. (2)) or attorney fees. The court may allow both executor’s commissions and attorney fees, and shall allow both if the will of the decedent authorizes the payments to be made.
857.05 AnnotationThe personal representative’s failure to communicate with one of the heirs, in violation of a court order, was an appropriate basis for reducing the personal representative’s fees. In Matter of Estate of Huehne, 175 Wis. 2d 33, 498 N.W.2d 870 (Ct. App. 1993).
857.05 AnnotationSub. (3) allows an attorney to act as both personal representative and attorney for an estate but does not allow charging at the usual attorney’s billing rate for nonprofessional services. Sherman v. Hagness, 195 Wis. 2d 225, 536 N.W.2d 133 (Ct. App. 1995), 94-2089.
857.05 AnnotationA personal representative’s obligation under a bond to reimburse the surety company’s attorney fees incurred on the bond was an allowable expense of the personal representative under this section. Estate of Burgess v. Peterson, 214 Wis. 2d 180, 571 N.W.2d 432 (Ct. App. 1997), 96-1455.
857.05 AnnotationSub. (1) did not authorize payment for attorney’s services when it was in the estate’s interest to let the interested parties litigate an issue and when, if the attorney’s position prevailed, no property would have been added to the estate. Bell v. Neugart, 2002 WI App 180, 256 Wis. 2d 969, 650 N.W.2d 52, 01-2533.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 11
cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1975–2025 · leading case: Bell v. Neugart
Bell v. Neugart (2002)
“" Wis. Stat. § 857.05 (1). Therefore that statute does not provide a basis for the estate to pay those attorney fees.”
Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Jelinske (In Re Jelinske) (2018)
“¶ 13 Contrary to Wis. Stat. § 857.05 (3) (2013-14), 3 Attorney Jelinske billed R.”
Estate of Burgess v. Peterson (1997)
“This does not constitute prejudgment interest, but rather an amount the company is contractually entitled to receive.”
Matter of Estate of Anderson (1988)
“Section 857.05(2), Stats., provides: Subject to the approval of the court the personal representative shall be allowed for his or her services commissions computed on the inventory value of the property for which the personal representative is accountable less any mortgages or…”
Disciplinary Proceedings Against Conmey (2005)
“] estate to himself as legal fees and disbursing additional estate funds to himself as personal representative fees, without first obtaining court approval, Conmey violated a statute regarding the conduct of lawyers [ Wis. Stat. § 857.05 (3)1, contrary to SCR 20:8.”
In Matter of Estate of Pirsch (1988)
“Section 857.05(2), Stats., states: Subject to the approval of the court the personal representative shall be allowed for his or her services commissions computed on the inventory value of the property for which the personal representative is accountable less any mortgages or…”
Crawford v. Tierney (1975)
“That fee is, of course, subject to the approval of the court and may be modified and increased in the event that there are unusual or extraordinary services rendered by the personal representative.”
In Matter of Estate of Huehne (1993)
“CROSS-APPEAL: INTEREST CHARGED ON PREPAID FEES Finally, Block and Robert argue that if this court agrees that the trial court erred by reducing their fees, we must also reverse the portion of the judgment requiring them to pay the estate 7% interest on the fees they took prior…”
Sherman v. Hagness (1995)
“, and his fees as personal representative pursuant to § 857.05, STATS. Section 851.40(2) provides that any beneficiary under a will may petition the court to review whether attorney fees charged the estate are "just and reasonable.”
Office of Lawyer Regulation v. Thad W. Jelinske (2018)
“¶13 Contrary to Wis. Stat. § 857.05 (3) (2013-14),3 Attorney Jelinske billed R.”
Jenny Lou Johnson v. Michael Mewis (2025)
“§ 857.05(2). This was significant to the court because the court credited testimony by Jackson that “the duties of a personal representative are nearly identical to those of a trustee.”
— Wis. Stat. § 857.05(1) — 1 case
Estate of Burgess v. Peterson (1997)
“This does not constitute prejudgment interest, but rather an amount the company is contractually entitled to receive.”
— Wis. Stat. § 857.05(2) — 5 cases
Matter of Estate of Anderson (1988)
“Section 857.05(2), Stats., provides: Subject to the approval of the court the personal representative shall be allowed for his or her services commissions computed on the inventory value of the property for which the personal representative is accountable less any mortgages or…”
In Matter of Estate of Pirsch (1988)
“Section 857.05(2), Stats., states: Subject to the approval of the court the personal representative shall be allowed for his or her services commissions computed on the inventory value of the property for which the personal representative is accountable less any mortgages or…”
In Matter of Estate of Huehne (1993)
“CROSS-APPEAL: INTEREST CHARGED ON PREPAID FEES Finally, Block and Robert argue that if this court agrees that the trial court erred by reducing their fees, we must also reverse the portion of the judgment requiring them to pay the estate 7% interest on the fees they took prior…”
Sherman v. Hagness (1995)
“, and his fees as personal representative pursuant to § 857.05, STATS. Section 851.40(2) provides that any beneficiary under a will may petition the court to review whether attorney fees charged the estate are "just and reasonable.”
Jenny Lou Johnson v. Michael Mewis (2025)
“§ 857.05(2). This was significant to the court because the court credited testimony by Jackson that “the duties of a personal representative are nearly identical to those of a trustee.”
— Wis. Stat. § 857.05(3) — 1 case
Sherman v. Hagness (1995)
“, and his fees as personal representative pursuant to § 857.05, STATS. Section 851.40(2) provides that any beneficiary under a will may petition the court to review whether attorney fees charged the estate are "just and reasonable.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.