§ 14-103. Commissions

   (a) General rule. --

   (1) A testamentary trustee and trustee of any other trust whose duties comprise the collection and distribution of income from property held under a trust agreement or the preservation and distribution of the property are entitled to commissions provided for in this section for their services in administering the trusts. The amount and source of payment of commissions are subject to the provisions of any valid agreement. Any court having jurisdiction over the administration of the trust may increase or diminish commissions for sufficient cause or may allow special commissions or compensation for services of an unusual nature.

   (2) A schedule of increased rates of income commissions and corpus commissions may be charged by a trustee whose activities are subject to State or federal supervision or who is a member of the Maryland Bar and who has:

      (i) Filed a schedule of the increased rates of commissions with an appropriate agency; and

      (ii) Given notice of the scheduled rates or revisions to the ascertained beneficiaries of the affected trust.

   (3) The notice required under paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be delivered to the beneficiaries personally or sent to the beneficiaries at their last known address by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested.

(b) Income commissions. -- Accounting from July 1, 1981, whether or not the trust was in existence at that time, income commissions are:

   (1) 6 percent upon all income from real estate, ground rents, and mortgages collected in each year; and

   (2) 6 1/2 percent upon the first $ 10,000 of all other income collected in each year, 5 percent upon the next $ 10,000, 4 percent upon the next $ 10,000, and 3 percent upon any remainder.

Income commissions shall be paid from and chargeable against income. Income collected includes any portion of income payable to a trustee but withheld by the payor in compliance with any revenue law.

(c) Corpus commissions. -- Accounting from July 1, 1981, whether or not the trust was in existence at that time, commissions are payable at the end of each year upon the fair value of the corpus or principal held in trust at the end of each year as follows:

   (1) Four tenths of one percent on the first $ 250,000;

   (2) One fourth of one percent on the next $ 250,000;

   (3) Three twentieths of one percent on the next $ 500,000; and

   (4) One tenth of one percent upon any excess. Corpus commissions shall be paid out of and chargeable against the corpus.

If a trust terminates, with respect to all or any part of the corpus held in trust in the course of any year, the commission for that year shall be reduced or prorated according to the part of the year elapsed and the amount of corpus as to which the trust terminates, and be chargeable, for such part of a year (and with respect to any such part of the corpus) at such termination of the trust, upon the then value of the corpus.

(d) Sales. -- For selling real or leasehold property, a commission upon the proceeds of the sale is payable at the rate allowed by rule of court or statute to trustees appointed to make sales under decrees or orders of the circuit court for the county where the real or leasehold property is situated, or if the property is located outside Maryland, for selling similar property in the county where the trust is being administered. The commission is payable from the proceeds of the sale when collected.

(e) Final distribution. -- Upon the final distribution of any trust estate, or portion of it, an allowance is payable commensurate with the labor and responsibility involved in making the distribution, including the making of any division, the ascertainment of the parties entitled, the ascertainment and payment of taxes, and any necessary transfer of assets. The allowance is subject to revision or determination by any circuit court having jurisdiction. In the absence of special circumstances the allowance shall be equal to one half of one percent upon the fair value of the corpus distributed.

(f) Determination of what is single trust. -- In determining what is a single trust for the application of the rates provided in this section, all property held undivided under the terms of the will or other instrument creating the trust shall be considered as a single trust. After any shares have been set apart or divided, to be held in separate trust, each separate trust set apart shall be considered as a single trust.

(g) Increased rates of income and corpus commissions -- Trustees authorized to file schedule. --

   (1) Instead of the rates of income commissions and corpus commissions provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a trustee may charge reasonable compensation calculated in accordance with a schedule of rates previously filed by the trustee with the appropriate agency as specified in paragraph (2) of this subsection, if the trustee is:

      (i) A financial institution whose activities are subject to supervision by this State or the federal government or which is an instrumentality of the United States; or

      (ii) A member of the Bar of this State.

   (2) A trustee shall file a schedule of rates under this subsection as follows:

      (i) For a savings and loan association, with the State Director of the Division of Savings and Loan Associations;

      (ii) For all other trustees, including attorneys and State chartered and national banks, with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation; and

      (iii) For a trustee administering an estate under the jurisdiction of a court, also with the trust clerk of the court.

   (3) In a trust involving multiple trustees and more than one of the trustees may be entitled to file a schedule of increased rates, the controlling schedule will be the schedule filed by the trustee having custody of the assets and maintaining records of the trust.

   (4) Whenever a trustee files a schedule of increased rates under this subsection, the trustee shall give notice to the ascertained beneficiaries of each affected trust. The notice required under this paragraph shall be delivered to the beneficiaries personally or sent to the beneficiaries at their last known address by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return receipt requested. Any beneficiary of a trust who objects to the schedule of rates to be charged to that trust, after notifying the trustee of the objection, may petition the appropriate circuit court to review the reasonableness of the rates to be charged. The notice required by this paragraph shall include a clear statement of the rights and procedures available to beneficiaries under this subsection. If the court finds that the rates in the schedule are unreasonable for the current fiscal year of the particular trust, the trustee's commissions for that trust for that fiscal year shall be limited to the rates charged that trust during the previous fiscal year.

   (5) If a trustee does not file a schedule of rates with the appropriate agency under paragraph (2)(i) or (ii) of this subsection and does not notify ascertained beneficiaries as provided in paragraph (4) of this subsection, the trustee is limited to charging the rates set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.

(h) Increased rates of income and corpus commissions -- Trustee not authorized to file schedule. -- An individual trustee who is not authorized to file a schedule of increased rates under this section is limited to charging the rates set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this section unless the trustee petitions the circuit court for the county where the trustee is located and obtains approval of an increase in fee after giving notice of such action to the ascertained beneficiaries of the trusts affected.

(i) Increased rates of income and corpus commissions -- Guardians. -- The schedule of increased rates of income commissions and corpus commissions which trustees are authorized to charge as provided in subsection (g) of this section is not applicable to guardians.

(j) Increased rates of income and corpus commissions -- Payment of costs. -- The legal and court costs incurred by the trustee pursuant to any court review under subsection (g)(4) or (h) of this section shall be charged against trustees' fees and may not be assumed by the trust or the beneficiaries.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 16, § 199; 1974, ch. 11, § 2; 1976, ch. 683; 1981, ch. 793; 1982, ch. 17, § 7; ch. 183; 1987, ch. 162; 1988, ch. 6, § 1; ch. 416; 1996, ch. 326, § 2.