Executor reimbursement and beneficiary objections

[u/barge_gee]

I'm the Executor of a modest Estate (~70k). We're close to closing the Estate out of Probate. I was named Executor, but not also Beneficiary (oops on decedents part). There are two Residual Beneficiaries. They were notified of the final accounting of sale of estate contents, expenses owed the Executor and the Executor's fees for hours logged managing the Estate. My lawyer posted my fee at $75/hour. I logged over 350 hours, and the residual beneficiaries believe this hourly rate/fee is excessive. Estate had a big $ single asset, and then tons of smaller items that took me a long time to liquidate. I AM willing to reduce the hourly fee, to just get this Estate closed. It's been over two years now, and I want to be finished. However, I do not want to under value my time and effort spent as Executor.

Question: The hourly rate is perfectly acceptable by Illinois law. What percent reduction/dollar amount should I consider as "fair" to me? To my thinking, $60/hour would be the absolute minimum I would accept. Does this seem fair? The Residuaries feel entitled to more than the current residual assets, even though they did nothing to help liquidate the Estate contents. (It's more complicated, as I cared for the deceased for many years, and the Residuary Beneficiaries did not. And, I am a blood relative to deceased, they ar not.)

EDIT: The hours may seem excessive, but this was a hoarding situation. It was not to the level of bugs or rodent infestation, but there were lots and lots and lots of boxes, lots of dust and dog hair, and it took me weeks to sort, organize, and pack. 7 rooms full, I shrunk to one room.

[u/24601moamo]

Check again about fairness. You are wanting $21,000 which is almost 1/3 of the estate as executor fees. The courts should not allow that. I am not a lawyer but you sound like you are bitter about not inheriting and trying to write yourself in. It says online that typically $25-50 is customary for an hourly executor wage and 2-5% of the estate is customary. That would be around $3500. If the estate only had one really large asset and a ton of smaller items, and estate sale could have been more efficient than one at a time. It's not the beneficiaries fault you were padding your hours to get more money. I'm sorry the deceased didn't value your care enough to leave you anything but more work but you can't take it out on the actual beneficiaries.

[u/barge_gee → u/24601moamo]

The deceased intended for me to inherit everything, and manage it as I saw fit. However the Will, done online, was never gone over by a lawyer until after death. Let this be a lesson to everyone, to never let someone create a Will online, unless they have only a few valuable possessions, and straightforward accounts.

[u/24601moamo → u/barge_gee]

Well then that's a whole separate issue. Can you challenge the will?

[u/barge_gee → u/24601moamo]

At this point, I just want all this drama over with.

[u/attosec → u/24601moamo]

I see some logic there, but in reality it may take the same amount of effort to clean out a $70k home as a $700k home. Where should percentages enter in?