Estate executors are entitled to reasonable fees for their work in administering estates. The fees requested by Leona Helmsley's executors test the definition of "reasonable."
Leona Helmsley's estate has received lots of attention for the large amount of money she left for her dog, an amount that was later reduced by a judge. What most people do not know about the "Queen of Mean's" estate is that Helmsley left most of it to her charitable foundation. The executors of her estate have submitted their bill for administering the estate and are requesting that the estate pay them $100 million for their services.
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.
If you have been appointed as an executor, be sure to contact an estate attorney to enquire about how fees are approached in your state.
Reference: New York Post (Jan. 21, 2016) "State AG challenges $100M fee charged on Queen of Mean's estate."