Connecticut General Assembly
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH
December 11, 1997 97-R-1450
TO:
FROM: George Coppolo, Chief Attorney
RE: Fiduciary Fees
You asked whether fiduciaries are entitled to compensation. If so, you asked how much they are entitled to and who decides.
A fiduciary is a person having a legal duty, created by his own acceptance of a legal responsibility, to act primarily for the benefit of another in connection with specified matters. For example, a person who is responsible for handling a decedent's estate is a fiduciary. (The person would either be an executor if the deceased person had a valid will or an administrator if the deceased did not die with a valid will.)
Under our common law (court made) fiduciaries are entitled to just and reasonable fees for performing their services. The factors that must be considered in determining whether fees are just and reasonable are:
1. the responsibility involved;
2. the character of the work required;
3. the special problems and difficulties met in doing the work;
4. the result achieved;
5. the knowledge, skill, and judgement required of and used by the fiduciaries;
6. the manner and promptness in which the responsibility has been handled;
7. the time and services required;
8. the value of the estate; and
9. any other relevant circumstances (Hayward v. Plant, 98 Conn. 374 (1922); Andrews v. Gordy, 237 Conn. 12 (1996)).
The fiduciary presents a bill to the probate court for his services. The court applies the factors to determine whether the fees are appropriate. If not, the court can reduce the fees. The fiduciary and those to whom the fiduciary owed a legal duty can appeal the probate court's decision to the Superior Court.
If the probate court created a record of the proceedings, including a transcript of testimony, the Superior Court decides whether the probate court abused its discretion in approving or reducing the fiduciary's fees (CGS § 45a-186). If no record is made before the probate court, the Superior Court holds a separate trial to determine the facts and independently decides the fee issue applying the standards previously described (Andrews v. Gorby, 237 Conn.).
GC:lc