Probate Costs in California: Fees, Lawyer Costs and Examples

By Eric Ridley, attorney, Ridley Law. Updated October 2026.

What the statute charges, and why it runs twice

The statutory fee is charged twice, once to the attorney and once to the personal representative, and the estate pays both. On a $1,000,000 estate that’s $23,000 each, so $46,000 comes out of the estate before any other probate cost, and every dollar of it is a dollar the beneficiaries don’t receive.

Percentages shrink as the estate grows, but they run on gross value and they’re charged twice. Each fee is 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, and one-half of 1% of the next $15,000,000, with a reasonable amount set by the court above $25,000,000. On $1,000,000 that’s $4,000, then $3,000, then $16,000, for $23,000. The attorney is entitled to an identical fee calculated separately on the same schedule (Prob. Code §10810), and the personal representative is entitled to the same amount (Prob. Code §10800).

The cost grows more slowly than the estate does: doubling the estate from $500,000 to $1,000,000 takes the combined fee from $26,000 to $46,000. The chart and table run the same schedule at seven estate values, with the attorney and the personal representative each receiving the fee shown per side and the number at the end of each bar showing the combined total. Run your own numbers with our probate calculator.

Gross estate	Attorney fee	Executor fee	Combined
$250,000	$8,000	$8,000	$16,000
$500,000	$13,000	$13,000	$26,000
$750,000	$18,000	$18,000	$36,000
$1,000,000	$23,000	$23,000	$46,000
$1,500,000	$28,000	$28,000	$56,000
$2,000,000	$33,000	$33,000	$66,000
$3,000,000	$43,000	$43,000	$86,000

All figures here 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. Estates above $25,000,000 get a reasonable amount set by the court.

Want this guide as a PDF?

Download the printable guide with the full fee table.

See also: California probate statistics, with every figure traced to its source.

The fee follows the gross value, so a mortgage doesn’t shrink it

Debt doesn’t reduce the fee. A house with a mortgage still generates fees on its full value, whatever the family still owes on it. A $900,000 house carrying a $600,000 mortgage generates fees on $900,000, not on the $300,000 of equity left once the loan is paid off, and the statute says so in its own words: §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 same gross-basis language sits in §10800(b) for the personal representative’s fee.

Don’t subtract the mortgage when you estimate the fee. The §10810 schedule on $900,000 is $4,000 on the first $100,000, $3,000 on the next $100,000, and $14,000 on the remaining $700,000, for $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 below. The mortgage reduces what the family nets when the house eventually sells. It does nothing to the fee.

What else the estate pays besides the two fees

The statutory fees aren’t the whole bill, so budget for the rest on top. The first-paper filing fee for a probate petition is $435 as of January 1, 2026 (Judicial Council statewide civil fee schedule), and delivering a will to the court clerk carries a separate $50 fee.

Cost	Amount or formula	Authority
Petition filing fee	$435 as of January 1, 2026, made up of $355 plus $40 plus $40. Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Francisco counties add a local surcharge	Government Code Section 70650(a), Government Code Section 70602.5(a), Government Code Section 70602.6(a)
Will lodging fee	$50 to deliver a will to the court clerk	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 probate referee’s commission covers only the property the referee appraises, which is less than the whole estate. It’s 0.1% of that, 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.

Publication and the bond don’t have a fixed price, because both vary. Newspaper publication of the notice of hearing is required (Prob. Code §8120), and the newspaper bills the estate directly. Publication prices vary by newspaper and county, and I haven’t found a published statewide figure, so I won’t quote one. A court bond, if the will doesn’t waive it, is required before letters issue (Prob. Code §8480) and can be waived by the will or by every beneficiary in writing (Prob. Code §8481). If it isn’t waived, the premium is an annual cost paid to a surety company until the estate closes. See probate bonds in California for the cost and the waiver rules.

Plan on a CPA’s bill too. 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 the CPA bills that separately from the statutory fee.

Extraordinary fees sit on top of the schedule

The statutory fee pays for the ordinary work of the case, and work beyond that can earn extra. If the estate has real property to sell or a dispute to fight, expect the bill to run past the table. Ordinary services are opening the estate, notices, the inventory and appraisal, ordinary creditor handling, the petition for final distribution, and closing. Section 10811 lets the court award the attorney additional compensation, and Section 10801 does the same for the personal representative, in an amount the court finds just and reasonable. Because both can petition on the same footing, an estate with heavy extraordinary work can see two additional awards on top of the two ordinary ones.

If the attorney asks for extra fees, expect a petition that documents the work. Rule 7.702 requires it to show the nature and difficulty of the work, the results, the hourly rate of each person who worked on it, and the hours spent. Rule 7.703 of the California Rules of Court lists examples for the attorney: legal services in connection with the sale of estate property, litigation to benefit the estate, defense of a will contest, and extraordinary efforts to locate assets. Extraordinary fees expressly reach supervised paralegal work, so a paralegal’s time on the estate can be billed that way, but the petition has to set out the hours and services rather than assert a total.

A contingent fee is possible for extraordinary work, but the court still has to approve it. The attorney and the personal representative can enter a written contingent fee agreement for extraordinary services, subject to Bus. & Prof. Code § 6147, though it 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.

The estate pays these costs, and the statutory fees wait until the end

If you’re the personal representative, you’ll often front costs such as the filing fee and get reimbursed from the estate. The family bears all of these costs through the estate, and the personal representative pays none of them personally. Each one reduces what’s left to distribute (Prob. Code §10810 and the California Courts Self-Help Guide). Prob. Code §8960 gives the referee’s commission and expenses the same §11420 payment priority as other administration expenses, so the referee is paid in line with everything else the estate owes before any beneficiary sees a distribution.

Part of the statutory fee can be paid early, with the court’s approval. Ordinarily the statutory fees themselves wait until the end of the case, when the court approves the final account and orders distribution, but after four months from the issuance of letters the personal representative or the attorney can petition for an allowance on account, and the court can approve part of the fee early (Prob. Code §10830).

The fee only reaches what goes through probate

A probate case brings the statutory fees with it, so the first question is whether the estate has to go through one. Small estates can skip it. Full probate is generally required once the decedent’s probate assets exceed $208,850 for a death on or after April 1, 2025, and a primary residence can use the simplified route only up to $750,000 (California Courts Self-Help Guide, 2025 limits).

A funded trust, a beneficiary designation or joint ownership takes an asset out of that count. The numbers include only assets that need probate, meaning assets titled in the decedent’s own name with no beneficiary designation, no joint owner, and no trust. A funded living trust, a retirement account with a named beneficiary, and joint tenancy property pass outside probate and don’t count toward the limit. Below the limit, a small estate affidavit under Prob. Code §13100 can transfer personal property without a court case. Real property has its own petition for a primary residence under Prob. Code §13151, with the $750,000 ceiling, and other real property has a much lower limit of $69,625 under Prob. Code §13200. For the details, see our small estate affidavit guide, the small estate playbook, simplified probate for a primary residence, and small estate limits against home values by county. If you can’t tell which side of the line you’re on, try the probate screener.

Assets a funded living trust holds pass without probate, and a trust only controls what’s in it. The one-time cost of a trust-based plan is on our fees page, and it’s paid while you’re alive instead of left as a bill for your family. The California probate page explains the process itself.

If probate can’t be avoided, the bill can still move

A lawyer is optional. The California Courts Self-Help Guide says the personal representative “can hire a lawyer if they want,” so a lawyer is optional. The court’s own guide walks a layperson through the forms: the Petition for Probate (DE-111), the Inventory and Appraisal (DE-160), and the Notice of Administration to Creditors (DE-157). A cash-only estate with no disputes and a cooperative family is workable on your own. A house to sell, a business, a missing heir, a will contest, or a creditor dispute is where mistakes get expensive, and a personal representative who makes them answers to the beneficiaries. If you want help for part of the way, the Self-Help Guide notes you can often pay for a consultation and keep representing yourself. A self-represented executor still can’t skip the filing fee, the probate referee, or publication.

The ordinary fee can’t be raised by agreement. Section 10803 makes an agreement between the personal representative and an heir or devisee for higher compensation than the statute provides void. Section 10812 deals with a will that sets the attorney’s pay: that provision is the full and only compensation, unless the personal representative or attorney petitions the court to be relieved from it and the court finds that more is to the advantage of the estate. I’ve seen the idea repeated that the parties can agree to a higher fee in writing with court approval. That isn’t what these sections say.

A lawyer can charge less than the schedule. Nothing in the fee statutes requires an attorney to take the full percentage, some attorneys reduce it on simple estates, and executors who are family members often waive their own fee. Ask directly, and get any reduction in writing. Our flat fee versus hourly for a California probate guide covers what to compare. Hourly time and flat quotes only matter for extraordinary work. If you serve as executor and want to understand the executor’s side, see how much an executor or trustee gets paid in California and the guide to fiduciary pay. For the whole bill, including funeral and settlement costs, see the cost of dying in California, and for a full worked example, what probate costs on a $700,000 house.

Probate has no filing deadline, but two 30-day clocks run from the start

Two 30-day clocks matter once you know of the death, though no statute sets a deadline to open a probate, and a person named as executor who waits without good cause may be held to have waived the right to serve. The petition itself can be filed “at any time after a decedent’s death” (Prob. Code §8000). The person holding the will must deliver it to the court clerk within 30 days of learning of the death (Prob. Code §8200). A person named as executor who doesn’t petition within 30 days of learning of the death and of being named may be held to have waived the right to serve, unless there is good cause for the delay (Prob. Code §8001).

Waiting costs something anyway. It leaves bills unpaid, property unmanaged, and creditors’ claim periods unstarted, because the creditor claim period runs from the date letters issue (Prob. Code §9100). In my practice a California probate typically takes twelve to eighteen months from filing to final distribution. Our guides on how to file a petition for probate and how long probate takes cover the steps and timing.

Talk to Eric

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?

The table near the top of this page runs the statutory schedule from $250,000 to $3,000,000. Two more data points: a $100,000 estate produces $4,000 per fee, and a $5,000,000 estate produces $63,000 per fee, or $126,000 combined.

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?

In my practice, a California probate typically takes twelve to eighteen months from filing to final distribution. The California Courts Self-Help Guide describes about nine months to a year and a half. 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. At Ridley Law it’s one $4,900 flat fee, married or single, and it includes up to two deeds transferring California real estate into the trust. 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.