What CA Probate Costs on a $700,000 House: $34,000

A $700,000 house in probate costs about $34,000 in statutory fees alone, before the court takes a filing fee or the referee appraises anything. That number surprises people because they assume the fee comes out of what the family actually owns. It doesn’t.

Where the $34,000 comes from

California sets probate compensation by statute. The personal representative gets a fee under Prob. Code § 10800, and the attorney gets an identical fee under § 10810. Both run on the same sliding scale:

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
0.5% of the next $15,000,000

On a $700,000 estate that’s $4,000 plus $3,000 plus $10,000, or $17,000. Then it happens twice, once for the representative and once for the attorney. $34,000.

The part that catches families

The fee is calculated on the gross value, not your equity. Both statutes say the computation happens “without reference to encumbrances or other obligations on estate property.”

So if that $700,000 house carries a $500,000 mortgage, the family’s actual equity is $200,000. The statutory fees are still calculated on $700,000. You pay $34,000 in fees on a $200,000 asset.

I’ve had that conversation more times than I’d like. It’s the single most common surprise in a California probate, and there’s no argument to be made about it. The statute is explicit.

What else gets added

Statutory fees are the floor, not the total. Expect these on top:

Probate referee. A commission of one-tenth of one percent of the appraised value, under § 8961, plus actual expenses. On $700,000 that’s $700.
Court filing fees. Charged on the initial petition and again on the petition for final distribution. Ventura County publishes the current amounts on its fee schedule, and they change, so check rather than trust a number you read somewhere.
Publication. Notice has to run in a newspaper of general circulation. Cost varies by county and paper, and in Ventura County it typically runs a few hundred dollars.
Bond. Required unless the will waives it or all beneficiaries agree to waive. Priced against the value of the estate.
Extraordinary fees. If someone contests, if real property has to be sold, or if there’s litigation, the court can award compensation above the statutory schedule.

A clean $700,000 probate with a house in it lands somewhere around $36,000 to $38,000 all in. A contested one has no ceiling worth quoting.

How long it takes

Twelve to eighteen months is the realistic figure for a California probate that nobody fights about. The creditor claim period alone runs four months from the issuance of letters. The California Courts Self-Help Guide puts the range at roughly nine months to a year and a half, which matches what I see in practice on the fast end.

During that time the house generally can’t be sold and distributed without court involvement, and the family carries the mortgage, taxes, and insurance.

What avoids it

A funded revocable living trust. Not a trust sitting in a drawer with the house still titled in your own name, which is the version I see most often. The deed has to actually move.

A complete plan at Ridley Law is a flat $4,100 for a married couple and $3,700 for an individual, and that includes the deed that moves the house into the trust. Against $34,000 in statutory fees on a single $700,000 property, the arithmetic answers itself.

Small estates have other options. If the gross estate is under $208,850 there’s an affidavit procedure under § 13100, and property passing to a surviving spouse can go through a spousal property petition instead of full administration. Those don’t help if the main asset is a house held in one person’s name.

If someone has already died

The fees above are already in motion, but the choices still matter. Whether a full probate is even required, whether a Heggstad petition can bring an unfunded property into an existing trust, and whether the estate qualifies for a simplified procedure are all worth answering before anyone files.

The practice is fully remote, so this doesn’t require anyone to drive anywhere. Call (805) 244-5291 and we’ll work out which procedure you’re actually in.

What Probate Actually Costs in California on a $700,000 House