OFFICE OF THE AlTORNN GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Eon. &yne IalbYr8 

county iwitor 

c4 *=m 

80, n, 0. E. 1911, r8aes 88 follcnmr 

1 be allawed the county judge 

of one per otmt upon 

of rwoh am~cttim, adY upon the approyal 
Hon. Wayne Iefevw, Page 2 

Article 3850, supra, was.bro~ht lorward,ln 

the Revised Civil Statutes of 1925 in Artlole 3926, whioh 

reads in part a8 followsr 

"The oounty judge shall also reoelve the 

following Sees: 

"1. d oom~~laelon or one-half OS one per 

oent upon the eotual oaeh reaelpta of eaoh 

exeaubor, administrator or guardian, upon the 

approval ol the 'exhlblhe end the rinal settlement of the aooouut of suah exeo'utor, adminiatrator or guardian, but no uore than one suah 

oomlselon shall be ohargecl,on any emouut mosived by any suah exeautor, administrator or 

guardian," 

We quote from the ease of Oriae vs. Coolep, et 

170 6W 1088, as follows! 

"When are the aomiasiona pmvlUsQ tar 

by Artlole 3250 (mm Art. 39261 payable') ft 

is the oontention o? appellant.that thay a+ 

not payable until the guartlian'e final aooount 

Is approved., Appelleee oontend that they a* 

payable upon all oaah reaeipte shown by any 

annuati~eoount OS the guarilhn, wheti euah dooount 

Is approved by the jutl e 

Omitting r0=at f 

to whcm It Is presslited. er5, the artlole provide19 

that the aounty judge, in addition to other 

apecliied fees, shall %I allowed .*.., ~'o~QImission of one-half of 1 er sent. upon the aoteal cash reoeipta of eaog i..,. guardian 

the approval of the exhchibfta and the f&l 

upon 

settlement of the aooount of suoh . . . . guaMIan,* 

provided only one suoh oharge shall be made. 

Prooeaalng on the theory that the faglalature,~ 

when It enaotod that euoh ices should bk'pald 

*upon' the approvnl of the exhiblfs'and the' 

rlnaz settlement of the aaoount' of the guardian, intended that full rorae and efffsot should 
Eon. Weyne Lefevre, Page 3 

be given to both pmvislone, we oonolude 

that suoh ommlrrdons may be payable upon 

approval of the annual eocount or upon 

approval of the final eaoount, depending 

upon when the ~rdIan resolved the money 

upon whIoh the ocnnmIee.ion Ie.sou@t to be 

ool?ected. For illustration, it;upoti 

presentation of an annual aooount It 

discloses that oaeh has been reae i ved by 

t:-!e tpuxrdian p~rlorto such preaentatfon . 

and subsequent to any last annual aooount, 

such guardianwould be en%Itl+d to the 

speolfIed ooErmlssfona upon the approval 

of the acoount 80 preeented. On the other 

hand, if it appears fz~m the guardlan*s. 

f’inal acoount that slnae his last annual 

aooount further cash hae been received, 

he would be entitled to his oommlaslon 

thereon upon the approve1 of suah final 

aaaount . The reierende to the approval 

OS the guardian18 exhibits and the approval 

0r Ns final eooount we regard ue merely 

rixinC: the period or time when~the county 

.judge may tax hls owimlsslons. By Article 

4186, R. E. 1911, guardlane are required 

to present an annual aoaount’under oath 

showing, amory; other thinKs, ‘a ocmplete 

aooount of reoelpts end disbursements 

olnoe the last annual eooount.’ .Upon pr?- 

eentatlon of suoh annual account, It Is 

by subsequent provIsIons of the statutes 

made the duty of the then presiding county 

judge to oonduat a hearing thereon, and, 

Ii he is satisfied that/the aooount le 

oorreot, it is his duty to approve -s=e. 

Ravbq made It the duty of tho.oounty 

judr~e to approve such eooounta, and ha*- 

I= allowi$ a fee of one-h&! Of 1 per 

oent. upon the ‘eatual oaeh reoeipts 

shown thereby, It surely follows, It Seerae 

to us, that the oommisaiona are payable 

upon ouoh appaoval, for the reason that 
Eon. !‘&ayne Lerevre, bee 4 

they were clearly Intended for the~beneflt 

of the c?rrlcer psrromlng the duty, and, 

having been so Intended, It was never oontonplated that he should forego hls cc%- 

pensatlm until final settlenmt-a%:$hF estate, particularly when final settlemit 

nIQht not oonm until artier the lapse of 

$.nfn~ars and the possible death of the 

WJ do not, as lndloated, thlnk. 

the ref&enoe to flnal settlesent at ellsmanln@ess. It Is very pmbebly tbst In many 

2uardlanshlp ~roceedln~s oash would be reoaived by tho ~uaMlan In the .perIod intervening between his last annual aooouut 

and the flnal account. If such oash was 

received, the oounty judge who hedtmd 

approved such final aooount would; be .ontitled to the comlsslon thereon, and the 

8010 pwpos~, in 0~s opinion, for say rate* 

en06 to final settleaent, was to aeoure 

the osf loer In ths peymmt of the Yees aacrulng at that time and whloh oould not 

be done under the ~rovlalon covering anuual 

accounts. 

"'We have treated the word *exhibits', 

in article J&50, as referring to annual 

aooounts. Wile It may not be said that the 

exhibit, either literalLy or in legal oontempletlon, meens account, It Is well knm that 

aooounts are often attached to plsadlngs es 

exhlblts. Such oustom, taken In oonnection with 

the reference In the ssns,atiIole to oash peaeipts rsqulred.to be shovs.ln snuual aocounta 

by article 4106, l?. 8. 1911, and the further 

faot that the annual aaoouuts required Oi 

&her fidualarles are referred to ns snnual 

exhibits (articles 324., 3242, R. 2. 19.911) 

sue in our'oplnlon sufflclent basis for holding that anmal accounts were Intended." 
Artlolfe3320 and 3321, R. C. S. read as follow3 : 

"h-t. 3320. Exeoutors end adminietratort? shall ma& annual exhibits under oath, 

fully nhowlnq the ccndltlon or the estate; 

they shall n&n final settlement of the eutatea they represent.rithin three years from 

the 3-t of letters, unless the tfms be extended 

by the oourt after satlsfaotory showing laeda 

under oath; and, upon fatiure in either 0888, 

shall be removed as provided by law. 

"Art. 3321. Any exhibit made by qn ereoutor or administrator showing a list of 

olaims allowed and approved or established 

a&nst the estate he represents, or ehavt@g 

the condition-of said estate and an aooount 

of all money received ati paid out on aoootmt 

of 8atd eatate, returned to the oourt betore 

the liliyr of the aocount for final*eettlement, 5hal.l be filed with the clerk, and 

notioe of muoh filw shall be posted at 

the oourthouse door tcr ten days from the 

postin& after whloh the onurt shall examine. 

aald exhibit, and if correct, render judqent 

of approval thereon and order it to be reoorded." 

In vim of the foregoing authorities, you are 

respectfully advised that it.ia the oplnion.of this department thst the one-half of one per cent oommlst3ion 

iron the reoelpts of properties handled bye an administrator is paya!:le to the county judge upon the aubmlsslon 

of exhibits and the annual report and that auoh oommlesfon 

is not payable at the time of the sales “of the property. 

TrustLng that the foregoing answers your inquiry, 

we remain 

Very truly yours