Private browser-only worksheet
Build an estate settlement snapshot.
Enter ownership and value details. The tool removes selected non-probate assets, checks the reviewed state rule, and names the facts that still require court or attorney confirmation.
How the small-estate result is decided
The calculator does not compare your total net worth to a limit. It first sorts each asset by how it transfers, then counts only what the state’s statute says to count, then applies the threshold and the waiting period as separate conditions.
- Classify by transfer mechanism. Property with an effective right of survivorship, a living named beneficiary, or genuine trust ownership normally passes outside probate and is excluded before any threshold is applied. Property whose ownership you have not confirmed is not guessed at: it is held aside and the result is reported as indeterminate.
- Apply the statutory scope. 4 of the 9 published states count personal property only, which means solely-owned real property neither counts toward the limit nor transfers under the procedure.
- Apply the statutory value basis. 6 states measure value after liens and encumbrances; the rest measure gross value. A financed vehicle can decide eligibility on its own depending on which rule applies.
- Test the threshold and the wait separately. Where a state states both, both must be satisfied. Some states also publish an independent route that ignores value entirely — Florida allows summary administration once the decedent has been dead for more than two years, whatever the estate is worth — so a failed value test does not always end the enquiry. A state that states no universal waiting period is reported as “none stated” rather than as zero days, because silence in a statute is not a stated permission.
Why a result can come back indeterminate
An indeterminate result is a real answer, not a failure. It appears when an asset’s ownership is unconfirmed, when a state measures value after exemptions this tool does not model, or when the controlling figure has not been verified. In each case the missing fact changes the outcome, so producing a confident yes or no would be misleading.
How executor compensation is calculated
Compensation rules fall into three groups, and only one of them produces a number. 4 of the 9 published states set a percentage schedule, 1 sets a ceiling that a court fills in, and 4 apply a reasonable-compensation standard with no percentage at all.
Percentage-schedule states, worked at $400,000
Each schedule is marginal: the rate for a band applies only to the part of the value inside that band, not to the whole estate. The figures below apply each state’s published bands to the same $400,000 compensation base.
| State | Bands | At $400,000 | Statute |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida | 3% to $1,000,000 · 2.50% to $5,000,000 · 2% to $10,000,000 · 1.50% above | $12,000 | Fla. Stat. § 733.617 |
| Ohio | 4% to $100,000 · 3% to $400,000 · 2% above | $13,000 | Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.35 |
| Missouri | 5% to $5,000 · 4% to $25,000 · 3% to $100,000 · 2.75% to $400,000 · 2.50% to $1,000,000 · 2% above | $11,550 | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 473.153.1 |
| Nevada | 4% to $15,000 · 3% to $100,000 · 2% above | $9,150 | NRS 150.020(1) |
What the schedule does not settle
- A schedule is a presumption or a statutory minimum, not an entitlement. Courts adjust compensation, and a will that states its own compensation terms can displace the schedule entirely.
- The compensation base differs by state. Some states compute on the inventory value plus income earned during administration, some on the amount actually accounted for after liens, and some on personal property plus the proceeds of real property that was sold. Real property that is never sold is treated differently again.
- Extraordinary services — selling property, running a business, litigation, tax work — are compensated separately in several states and are not included in any figure here.
- Compensation is taxable income to the person who takes it, and a beneficiary who is also the executor sometimes takes nothing for that reason. That is a tax question this tool does not answer.
Reasonable-compensation states
Virginia, Washington, Arizona, Nebraska apply a reasonable-compensation standard. The calculator returns that rule rather than inventing a percentage, because there is no published percentage to return. What counts as reasonable is decided on the record of the particular estate: time spent, complexity, the size and character of the property, and whether professional help was already paid for out of the estate.
What this tool deliberately does not do
- It does not decide who inherits. Intestate succession shares and will construction are outside its scope.
- It does not price attorney fees, bond premiums, publication, appraisals, or property sale costs.
- It does not calculate estate, inheritance, income, or capital-gains tax.
- It does not transfer real property, and it does not advise on deeds or title.
- It does not resolve creditor claims, family allowances, elective shares, or contested proceedings.
- It does not send your entries anywhere. Everything you type stays in this browser.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.