Evening star., 1908-01-14
FEES IN PROBATE COURT
EFFORTS BY REGISTER TANNER
FOR JUST SETTLEMENTS.
Bill introduced Giving Proportion
ate Rates of Cost-What Mr..
Tanner Says on the Subject.

Senator Gallinger yesterday introduced
| in the Senate a bill to fix fees and costs
| in the probate court. The bill is the
outcome of the efforts of Register of
Wills Tanner to secure a proportinate
rate of costs in the settlements of estates
Under the present arrange ments it costs
as much to probate and administer an
estate of $4,000 as one involving $1,000
600
The new bill provides, besides the brief
mention made of it yesterday, that fees
shall be charged as follows:
Where the value of an estate does not
exceed 500. no fees shall be charged.
Where it exceeds $500 and does not
exceed $500 the total fees shall be So;
between $500 and $1,000. $40: between
$1,000 and 81 800 SO: between S1.5OO and
$1,000. so; between $1,000 and $1,000,
s2o; between $1,000 and $1,000. $50; be-
tween $1,000 and $1,000. $50; between
5000 and 5000. $40; between $1,000 and
$1,000. Si5; between $1,000 and 5000,
$50; between 5000 and $1,000. S55; be-
| tween 5000 and SO. 900. $50: between SO. 600
and $4,000. $40: between $4,000 and go
un. 500: between $4,000 and $25.OOO, $40:
between $4,000 and $50, 900, $40; between
$4,000 and $4,000 $3.50; between $3o,oOo
and $40,WO $40; between $4,000 and $45,-
200, $50: between $4,000 and $5o.WU.
Sl6"; between $4,000 and S55,pO0. $l6o:
tween &i5.OoO and $4,000. $780, be-
tween 100000 and S65.O0O $175; between
$4,000 and $4,000, $50; between $4,000
and $4,000, $1S5; between $4,000 and
$4,000. $50; between $4,000 and $50.
WD $195; between $S5.OOO and $90.UOU
S2oo; between $4,000 and 500, ,OOO $2O5: be-
| tween $4,000 and 100000. s2l0. Estates
| in excess of 100000 shall pay $40. and at
| the rate of 500 each additional 500, ,O0O
| or fractional part thereof
Speaking of the new bill. Mr.. Tanner
said: 1t is readily seen by an exam
| ination of the records that plan of
taxation of fees based on a percentage
calculation upon the relative values of es-
tates would relieve the smaller estates
| from paying an unjust proportion of the
court fees, without more seriously affect
ing the larger estates. than to have them
pay full share. Such a system is con-
tanned in the new bill. Under it the high
est percentage paid would be but 21a per
| cent (as against fees OF nearly 10 per
cent in some cases under the present sys-
| temp, and this would be only in estates
exceeding 300 in value. From that figure
the percentage rate rapidly diminishes
until In estates aggregating in the neigh
borhood of 100000 a fraction over one
| hfth of / per cent would be paid. In eS-
tates of larger amounts the rate would
| be still lower, amounting to practically
one-tenth of 1 per cent in an estate valued
| at S1,0OO,OOO.
| LAS a result of the extensive examina-
tion of the office records and compila-
| tion of statistics necessary for the per-
| fection of a system that should adequate
| ly provide for the administration of the
office, and at the same time provide for a
more nearly proportionate distribution of
administration fees, some very interesting
and pertinent examples have been noted
From six hundred (60Ol administration
cases selected from the Office files in such
| manner as to make the average obtained
therefrom accurate representation of
the whole possible, the following ap-
pears:
The total value of the estates of So.
600, or less. among these cases, aggre-
gated 81, $50 J15.24. These estates paid in
fees to this office the sum of 50, 1892.
which amount was 54.95 per cent OF the
total fees received from the 600 cases.
The estates numbering 155. amounting in
value to over $4,000 each aggregated
S13. 1852 These estates paid the
other 45O5 per cent of the total fees, or
SS. .G29 60. In other words. estates amount
ing to 1886 per cent of the total value
represented i'm these coo cases paid only
Is per cent of the fees, leaving the smaller
estates whose values amounted to only
ia per cent of the total, to bear the bur-
den of the other 10 per cent of fees. There
can be no question about the injustice of
a system that will produce these figures.
but they are obtained from a general
average. and by no means represent the
inequality as to individual estates"