- Guide3 of 5
- The lawVic s 65, SA s 96, Qld ss 159 to 161
- Checked10 October 2026
Executors’ commission in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland
In each of these three states, the Act lets a court allow an executor to be paid out of the estate, and none of the three Acts fixes a rate that applies on its own. A court order is not the only route: for a will executed on or after 1 November 2017, Victoria’s Act also deals with pay under a clause in the will or with the consent of each interested beneficiary, and Queensland’s lets a professional trustee charge its professional charges where the trust instrument provides it no benefit or remuneration, unless the instrument expressly says otherwise. Only Victoria’s Act names a figure, and it is a ceiling.
General information only. Dotto is not a financial adviser or a trustee company, and this guide is not financial or legal advice. This guide is a selection of three states; it does not cover the other states and territories. The official text of each Act is linked at the foot of this page.
The three Acts at a glance
| State | The power | Figure in the Act | Reducing it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Victoria: Administration and Probate Act 1958 s 65 (version 130) | The Court may allow commission or a percentage that is just and reasonable | no more than five per cent | s 65A: for the estate of a person who died on or after 1 November 2017, the Court may order an excessive amount reduced or repaid |
| South Australia: Succession Act 2023 s 96 (version of 1 January 2025) | The Court may allow commission or other remuneration it considers just and reasonable | none | The Act leaves the amount to the Court |
| Queensland: Trusts Act 2025 ss 159 to 161 (current as at 28 April 2026) | The court may authorise the remuneration it considers appropriate | none | s 161: the court may reduce excessive commission or professional charges |
Victoria
Victoria’s rules sit in ss 65 to 65D of the Administration and Probate Act 1958, version 130 (amendments as at 22 October 2025), put here in plain words. Section 65E, on an executor choosing to charge fees instead of commission a will provides for, is in the Act linked at the foot of this page.
The Court’s power, and its ceiling
Under s 65(1), the Court may allow an executor, administrator or trustee, out of a dead person’s assets, a commission or percentage that is just and reasonable for the work, up to a maximum of five per cent. An executor of an executor who becomes executor of the first estate by representation is included. Five per cent is the most the Court may allow. For a licensed trustee company, s 65(2) holds the Court to what the company may charge under Chapter 5D of the Corporations Act.
Payment under the will, or by consent
Where a will executed on or after 1 November 2017 has a clause paying the executor, s 65B says an executor can receive payment under it only if the will‑maker gave written informed consent to that clause, and gave it before the will was executed.
Without a valid clause, s 65C lets an executor of a will executed on or after 1 November 2017 receive fees or commission from the estate with the informed consent of each interested beneficiary, where the will has no clause, its clause does not cover that kind of pay, or the clause fails for want of the s 65B consent. This consent route does not apply to an executor that is a trustee company.
What beneficiaries must be told
Section 65D requires an executor of a will executed on or after 1 November 2017 who seeks to be paid to tell each interested beneficiary, as soon as reasonably practicable, the basis of the payment, how it is calculated, its estimated value, and the beneficiary’s right to have it reviewed by the Court. A likely substantial change in the estimate must also be passed on. The information has to be in plain language, in another language where a beneficiary does not have enough English, and given aloud to a beneficiary who cannot read.
An executor of such a will who breaches s 65D is not entitled to be paid a commission, a percentage of the estate’s assets, or fees from the estate. The section does not apply to a trustee company executor.
The Court’s review
Under s 65A, for the estate of a person who died on or after 1 November 2017, if the Court is satisfied that commission or fees charged, kept or payable under a will, or costs reimbursed from the estate, are excessive, it may order them reduced or repaid to the estate. It may act on application by an interested person or a creditor, or on its own initiative. Section 65A does not apply to State Trustees.
South Australia
South Australia’s Succession Act 2023 commenced on 1 January 2025, and its Schedule 3 says: “The Administration and Probate Act 1919 is repealed.” The power now sits in s 96, where “Court” means the Supreme Court of South Australia.
“(1) The Court may allow an executor, administrator or trustee, whether of the estate of a deceased person or otherwise, such commission or other remuneration out of the estate or trust property, and either periodically or otherwise, as the Court considers just and reasonable.
(2) However, no commission or other remuneration is allowable to an administrator who fails to”:
“(a) provide the statement and account required by section 92 in accordance with that section or within such time as the Court may allow; or
(b) dispose of an estate with which the administrator is chargeable according to the due course of administration.”
Succession Act 2023 (SA), s 96(1) and (2), version of 1 January 2025
Queensland
Queensland’s Trusts Act 2025 repeals the Trusts Act 1973 (s 220), and in its definitions a trustee includes “a personal representative” (s 7(1)(c)), so its rules on a trustee’s pay reach a personal representative. The Act’s own word for what a court may authorise is remuneration, not commission.
“(1) The court may, on application by a trustee (including a professional trustee), make an order authorising the trustee to charge, and to be paid out of the trust property, the remuneration for the trustee’s services that the court considers appropriate if the circumstances appear to the court to justify the charge.”
Trusts Act 2025 (Qld), s 160(1), current as at 28 April 2026
Section 159 is narrower than it can look. It deals with a professional trustee, which s 59 defines as “a trustee whose profession, business or employment is, or includes, acting as a trustee; or a custodian trustee whose profession, business or employment is, or includes, acting as a custodian trustee”. Where the trust instrument provides no benefit or remuneration for that trustee, s 159(1) says that trustee is entitled to charge its professional charges in relation to the trust and to be paid them out of the trust property, subject to any express contrary intention in the instrument (s 159(2)).
Under s 161, if the court considers an amount for commission or for professional charges excessive, it may review and reduce it, when someone with an interest in the trust applies or of its own motion, and “despite any provision of an Act, or of the trust instrument, authorising the charging of the amount”. It does not apply to a licensed trustee company, or to the public trustee’s fees and charges under s 17 of the Public Trustee Act 1978. Section 161 reaches only amounts charged or proposed after the Act commenced (s 283).