California probate administration includes statutory compensation for the personal representative and the attorney for the personal representative. Some estates, however, require work that goes substantially beyond ordinary administration. In those cases, a request may be made for California probate extraordinary compensation in addition to ordinary statutory fees.

California Rule of Court 7.703 states that an award of extraordinary compensation is within the probate court's discretion. Examples can include certain real property transactions, operation of a decedent's business, tax work, audits, litigation, extraordinary asset searches, and other services described in the rule. The fact that work falls into a potentially extraordinary category does not mean an additional fee will automatically be awarded.

The request must provide enough information for the court to evaluate the services. Rule 7.702 calls for information concerning the nature and difficulty of the work, results achieved, benefit to the estate, amount requested for each category, hourly rates, time spent, and sufficiently detailed descriptions of the services. This makes contemporaneous time records especially important even though ordinary probate compensation is usually calculated differently.

Consider an estate that becomes involved in contested litigation over ownership of a valuable asset. The attorney may spend substantial time conducting discovery, preparing motions, negotiating settlement, and appearing for hearings beyond the work normally involved in opening and closing probate. Those circumstances may support a request for California probate extraordinary compensation, but the judge still evaluates whether the amount requested is justified.

Real estate presents another common source of confusion. Rule 7.703 identifies certain services involving the sale of property as possible extraordinary work, but a routine sale does not necessarily produce an automatic additional fee. The complexity of the transaction, services actually performed, and benefit to the estate can matter significantly. Courts retain discretion over the amount ultimately allowed.

Beneficiaries reviewing a request for extraordinary fees should look beyond the total dollar amount. The petition should explain what was done, why the services were outside ordinary administration, how much time was spent, and what benefit the work produced. Conversely, personal representatives and their attorneys should avoid waiting until the end of a long estate administration to reconstruct substantial extraordinary work from memory.

For Los Angeles County estates, California probate extraordinary compensation can become a significant component of the final petition when administration involved litigation, difficult tax matters, a business, unusual real estate issues, or other complicated work. Clear billing records and a well-supported explanation give beneficiaries and the court a more meaningful basis for evaluating the request.

Key takeaways:

• Extraordinary probate compensation is discretionary rather than automatic.
• Detailed time records and descriptions of the work are important to a fee request.
• The court may consider the difficulty, results, benefit to the estate, statutory compensation, and circumstances of the services.

Helpful educational links:

• https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/seven/rule7_703
• https://courts.ca.gov/cms/rules/index/seven
• https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes.xhtml

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Questions concerning ordinary or extraordinary probate compensation should be evaluated in light of the particular estate and services performed. Call Westlake Law Group at (818) 444-2022. 30699 Russell Ranch Road, North Building, Suite 210, Westlake Village, California. Virtual consultations are available throughout Southern California.