# What Probate Actually Costs in California

> California sets probate fees by statute on the gross estate: $46,000 combined on a $1,000,000 estate. Here is the full fee table and the timeline.

Source: https://ridleylawoffices.com/guides/probate-costs/

**Quick answer:** California probate fees are set by statute on the estate’s gross value, not its equity, and both the attorney and the personal representative are each entitled to the full fee (Prob. Code §§10800, 10810). Combined statutory fees run from $8,000 on a $100,000 estate up to $56,000 on a $1,500,000 estate, before court costs, the probate referee, publication, bond, and any extraordinary fees the court awards on top.

- **Fee schedule:** 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, 1% of the next $9,000,000, then one-half of 1% of the next $15,000,000, with anything above $25,000,000 set by the court (Prob. Code §10810)
- **Doubled in practice:** The attorney and the personal representative each collect the full statutory fee separately, so the schedule effectively runs twice
- **Debt doesn’t help:** The fee is calculated on gross value, so a mortgage does not reduce it (Prob. Code §10800(b))
- **Extraordinary fees:** The court can award additional fees on top for selling real property, litigation, or unusual work (Prob. Code §10811)
- **Not the whole bill:** Filing fees, the probate referee, publication, and bond premiums are separate and add up on their own

### How much does probate cost in California?

California sets the probate fee by statute, calculated on the gross value of the estate rather than what’s actually owned free and clear: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, and lower percentages above that. The estate’s attorney is entitled to an identical fee, calculated separately on the same schedule, so both fees come out of the estate. On a $1,000,000 estate, that ordinary schedule produces roughly $46,000 total, before court costs or extraordinary fees (Prob. Code §§10800, 10810).

## The one thing to remember

The probate fee is set by statute, it’s calculated on the gross value of the estate, and your debts don’t reduce it. On top of that, the attorney and the personal representative each get the full statutory fee, so the schedule effectively runs twice. A million-dollar estate with a big mortgage still generates fees as if the mortgage weren’t there.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How is the statutory fee schedule built?

The statutory fee is a set of percentages on the estate’s value, and it’s the same schedule for the attorney and for the personal representative (Prob. Code §§10800, 10810): 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, and 1% of the next $9,000,000. Run that on a $1,000,000 estate and one fee comes to $23,000: $4,000 plus $3,000 plus $16,000. Then the personal representative is entitled to the same $23,000. That’s how a $1,000,000 estate reaches $46,000 in statutory fees before you add court costs, the probate referee, publication, and bond.

### Does a mortgage lower the probate fee?

No. The statutory fee is calculated on the gross value of the estate, without reference to encumbrances, so a mortgage or other debt against the property does not reduce what the personal representative or the attorney is paid (Prob. Code §10800(b)). An illustration: a house is worth $1,000,000 and carries an $800,000 mortgage. The family’s real stake is $200,000, but the probate fee is still figured on the full $1,000,000, as if the mortgage didn’t exist.

### What does probate cost at different estate sizes?

| Gross estate | One fee (attorney or personal representative) | Both fees combined |
| --- | --- | --- |
| $500,000 | $13,000 | $26,000 |
| $750,000 | $18,000 | $36,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $23,000 | $46,000 |
| $1,500,000 | $28,000 | $56,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $33,000 | $66,000 |
| $3,000,000 | $43,000 | $86,000 |
| $5,000,000 | $63,000 | $126,000 |

*These are the statutory fees only (Prob. Code §§10800, 10810), as of 2026. They don’t include extraordinary fees, which the court can award on top for extra work like selling real property or handling litigation (Prob. Code §10811). They also don’t include filing fees, the probate referee’s fee, publication, or bond.*

### How long does probate take in California?

Most California probate cases take twelve to eighteen months from filing to final distribution. Estates with real property to sell, disputed heirs, or tax complications tend to run toward the longer end of that range. The dollars aren’t the whole bill, either. The file is public, so anyone can read what the estate held and who received what, and the process runs by the Probate Code and a judge, not by the choices the family would have made. For a family trying to sell a house, pay expenses, or simply move forward through grief, the delay and the exposure often sting more than the fee itself.

### What actually avoids probate?

- **A funded living trust.** Assets the trust actually holds pass without probate. The catch is funding: a trust only controls what’s in it.
- **Beneficiary designations.** Retirement accounts and life insurance pass by the form, outside probate, when the form is current and correct.
- **Small-estate procedures.** Below California’s statutory threshold, currently $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, the law lets you use an affidavit instead of probate (Prob. Code §13100).

### What does a trust-based plan cost instead of probate?

A trust isn’t free either. A trust-based plan is typically a flat fee, a fraction of what probate would cost on the same estate, and it’s paid once while you’re alive rather than left as a bill for your family. The exact number depends on the complexity of the situation, so it gets quoted after the facts are understood, not before. The point of the table above isn’t to create fear. It’s to let you compare a known, one-time cost now against a larger, statutory cost later, and decide with real numbers.

### What’s the rule of thumb on probate costs?

The statutory fee runs on gross value, so debt on the property doesn’t reduce it. Two full fee awards apply, one to the attorney and one to the personal representative, so the schedule effectively doubles, and extraordinary fees can be added by the court on top.

This is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it doesn’t make you a client. The fee figures are computed directly from the statutory schedule and are accurate as of this writing; court costs and extraordinary fees are separate. Federal tax questions belong with your CPA.

Run your own numbers with our [probate calculator](https://ridleylawoffices.com/probate-calculator/). To find out whether you need probate in the first place, [find out if you need probate at all](https://ridleylawoffices.com/probate-screener/).

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### California Probate Statutory Fees by Estate Size (Prob. Code §10810)

The attorney and the personal representative each receive the fee shown per side. The number at the end of each bar is the combined total that comes out of the estate.

$100K estate

$8,000

$250K estate

$16,000

$500K estate

$26,000

$750K estate

$36,000

$1M estate

$46,000

$1.5M estate

$56,000

Attorney’s statutory fee

Personal representative’s statutory fee

*These are the ordinary statutory fees only (Prob. Code §§10800, 10810), current as of 2026. Extraordinary fees, filing fees, the probate referee, publication, and bond are separate and are not included in these totals. Run your own numbers with our [probate calculator](https://ridleylawoffices.com/probate-calculator/).*

### Costs the Statutory Fee Table Doesn’t Show

The statutory attorney and personal representative fees are the headline number, but they aren’t the whole bill. Budget for these on top:

- **Probate referee appraisal fee.** The court-appointed referee appraises the estate’s non-cash assets for a statutory fee, generally a fraction of a percent of the appraised value, with a minimum charge regardless of size.
- **Bond premium.** If the will doesn’t waive bond, or there’s no will, the court can require a bond sized to the estate’s value. The premium is an annual cost paid to a surety company until the estate closes.
- **Court filing fees.** Opening a probate case, filing the inventory, and filing for final distribution each carry their own county filing fee, and some counties charge more than others.
- **Publication costs.** California requires published notice to creditors and interested parties in a newspaper of general circulation, a cost that varies by county and publication.
- **Extraordinary fees.** The court can award fees above the statutory schedule for unusual work: selling real property, handling litigation, or resolving a contested claim (Prob. Code §10811).
- **Tax return preparation.** A decedent’s final income tax return, and often a separate fiduciary income tax return for the estate itself, need a CPA’s time and fee, and are billed separately from the statutory fee.

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## What probate actually costs, line by line

The two statutory fees are the biggest line on the bill, and the table above already shows how that schedule scales. Here is everything else that shows up in a probate, with a dollar figure or a formula and the authority behind it.

| Cost | Amount or formula | Authority |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Petition filing fee | $435 as of January 1, 2026, made up of $355 plus $40 plus $40 | Government Code Section 70650(a), Government Code Section 70602.5(a), Government Code Section 70602.6(a) |
| Will lodging fee | $50 | Government Code Section 70626(d) |
| Statutory fee, personal representative | Same §10810 schedule detailed above | Prob. Code §10810 |
| Statutory fee, attorney | Same §10810 schedule, awarded separately | Prob. Code §10810 |
| Probate referee commission | 0.1% of the value the referee appraises, plus actual and necessary expenses; $75 minimum, $10,000 cap absent court approval of a higher amount | Prob. Code §§8961, 8963 |
| Extraordinary fees | Court-set amount the court finds just and reasonable, on top of the ordinary fee | Prob. Code §10811 |
| Bond premium | Set by the surety; varies with the bond amount and the estate’s risk profile | Prob. Code §§8480, 8481 |
| Newspaper publication of notice | Billed directly by the newspaper; varies by county and outlet | Prob. Code §§8120, 8121 |
| Certified copies of Letters | Per-copy fee set by the county clerk | County clerk fee schedule |

The referee’s commission deserves a closer look, because it isn’t figured on the whole estate. It’s 0.1% of whatever the referee actually appraises, plus the referee’s actual and necessary expenses on top. Property the personal representative appraises directly under Prob. Code §8901, cash and cash-equivalent accounts, mainly, and property an independent expert appraises under §8904, real property and closely held business interests are common examples, is excluded from that base. The referee’s 0.1% applies only to what’s left after those carve-outs, subject to the $75 floor and the $10,000 ceiling in Prob. Code §§8963(a) and (b). A court can approve a commission above $10,000 on a noticed application, but that takes an extra hearing most estates never need.

### The gross-versus-net trap, worked on a $900,000 estate

A mortgage doesn’t shrink either statutory fee, and this is worth seeing in the statute’s own words. Prob. Code §10810(b) defines the value the fee runs on as the total appraisal of the property in the inventory, plus any gain over appraisal on a sale, plus receipts, minus any loss below appraisal on a sale, computed “without reference to encumbrances or other obligations on estate property.” The identical gross-basis language sits in §10800(b) for the personal representative’s own fee. Both fees run on the gross estate, not on what the family actually owns free and clear. A $900,000 house carrying a $600,000 mortgage still generates fees on $900,000, not on the $300,000 of equity left once the loan is paid off.

Run that on a $900,000 estate and the §10810 schedule works out to:

- 4% of the first $100,000 = $4,000
- 3% of the next $100,000 = $3,000
- 2% of the remaining $700,000 = $14,000
- Total: $21,000

That $21,000 goes to the personal representative, and a second $21,000 goes to the attorney under the identical schedule: $42,000 combined, before anything else on the cost table above. Add the probate referee’s commission at 0.1% of $900,000, which comes to $900, plus the $435 filing fee, plus whatever publication and certified copies run. The mortgage doesn’t touch any of those numbers. It reduces what the family nets when the house eventually sells. It does nothing to the fee.

### What triggers extraordinary fees under §10811

The §10810 schedule pays for ordinary administration. Extraordinary fees sit on top of it, for extraordinary services, and Prob. Code §10811 leaves the amount to what the court finds just and reasonable rather than fixing it by formula. That category expressly reaches supervised paralegal work, so time a paralegal spends on the estate can be billed as an extraordinary fee, but the petition has to set out the hours and the services performed rather than just assert a total. For extraordinary services specifically, the attorney and the personal representative can also enter a written contingent fee agreement, subject to Bus. & Prof. Code § 6147, though it still needs a noticed hearing under §10812 and a court finding that the fee is just and reasonable and in the best interest of the estate. Extraordinary fees aren’t a way around the statutory schedule. They compensate for work the schedule was never built to cover: selling real property, litigation, a contested claim, and similar. Both the attorney and the personal representative can petition for extraordinary compensation on the same footing, the same way both are entitled to the ordinary §10810 fee, so an estate with heavy extraordinary work can see two additional awards on top of the two ordinary ones.

### Who pays, and when

Every cost on this page comes out of the estate, not out of the personal representative’s own pocket. If the personal representative advances a cost, the filing fee or the referee’s fee, for example, the estate reimburses it. Prob. Code §8960 gives the referee’s commission and expenses the same §11420 payment priority as other administration expenses, so it takes its place in line with everything else the estate owes before any beneficiary sees a distribution. The statutory fees to the attorney and the personal representative are ordinarily paid at the close of administration, when the court approves the final account and orders distribution, though the court can approve interim payments along the way in the right estate. None of these costs are optional add-ons the family can decline. Once a petition for probate is filed, the filing fee, the referee’s commission, and the two statutory fees are the price of the process itself, not choices the personal representative makes along the way.