To be very upfront, before I get into the explanation I follow the rules that were laid out to me when my grandma gave me the job as executor of her estate. There was some Grey area which I guess is where the question lies.

My grandma unalived at 81 last year. I am probably the most responsible of her heirs so before she moved to hospice she changed executor from my aunt (who agreed, in the middle of a nasty divorce and didn’t want her ex to get anything or the stress) to me.

My grandma left assets totalling about $1,600,000. A house had to be sold, cash, so many paperwork and meetings. It was basically a 20-hour-a-week part-time job for a year. One of the stipulations of her trust was that the executor would be paid an amount basically of their choosing but had to be fair and “market level.”

I asked a guy I was dating who was in law school and he said the market level for a job like that is about $300 an hour. I kept meticulous records and 50 weeks* 20 hours* $300 is about $300k. That left about. $300k to be split amongst the 11. So each person’s share was $28000. To me, that was a lot of money and everyone should be very grateful but everyone is so angry with me and say I took advantage of the situation.

People are talking about suing me. I did meet with a real lawyer after that threat and he said that while he wished I would have talked to him before I set my payment amount, in terms of the Will there’s not much to sue me over.

I guess the only thing is, is it worth losing my family over it?