Under the B.C. Trustee Act, an executor is entitled to remuneration for administration of an estate, unless the Will states otherwise. However, executors should not expect to receive a fee regardless of their conduct. Executor misconduct, for example breach of fiduciary duty, may disentitle the executor to any fees, despite their efforts and time spent to administer the estate.

The B.C. Supreme Court recently considered executor misconduct in the context a passing of accounts and approval of executors’ fees in Zaradic Estate (Re) 2021 BCSC 1037. In Zaradic, The sole beneficiary was a friend of the deceased. The joint executors were a husband and wife, who were also friends of the deceased.  The executors sought to pass their accounts, which included payment of an executors’ fee.

The Trustee Act provides that an executor is entitled to remuneration of up to a maximum of 5% of the gross aggregate value of the estate (including all capital and income) unless the will provides otherwise. In Zaradic, the Will allowed for the executors to claim a fee up to 10%.

The criteria for determining an appropriate fee includes:

1. The magnitude of the trust;
2. The care and responsibility involved;
3. The time occupied administering the trust;
4. The skill and ability displayed; and
5. The success achieved in the final result.

The beneficiary argued that the executors ought to be denied any fees for administering the estate by reason of their alleged breach of trust in attempting to sell the deceased’s house to their daughter for roughly 50% of its market value. The beneficiary had to commence a legal action and obtain a certificate of pending litigation to prevent the sale of the deceased’s home. The executors had also loaned their daughter $13,000 of estate monies to ensure she had enough money to complete the sale.

The executors tried to place the blame on (1) their experience with property ownership generally, and (2) a notary who allegedly advised them to take this course of action. The property eventually sold for fair market value, but the beneficiary incurred legal costs in order to make sure that this happened.

The Will provided as follows with respect to remuneration:

. . . My trustees may claim remuneration for acting as Trustees in the amount of Ten Percent (10%) of the net value of the residue of my estate to be shared equally between them, in lieu of any Executor or Trustees Fee’s.

The executors argued that this wording meant that they were entitled to a 10% fee regardless of their conduct. The Court did not agree. The Will said that the executors may “claim” for remuneration, but the amount of the fee was not fixed and had to be approved by the court if the beneficiary did not agree.

In terms of the amount of the fee, the Court concluded that the actions of the executors in relation to the attempted sale for less than market value to their daughter were “an egregious breach of their fiduciary duty,” which disentitled them to any fee.

The executors were denied any fee for their time spent administering the estate.  While there was a measure of care and responsibility involved in handling the estate, the executors’ efforts were a “dismal failure” when it came to the skill and ability displayed and the success achieved.  In other words,  all of their time and effort spent on the estate was eclipsed by their breach of fiduciary duty.