How Much Does Probate Cost in California?

Full probate in California is expensive in a way that surprises most families, because the largest cost isn't an hourly bill — it's a percentage of the estate set by statute, paid to two people, and calculated on the gross value of the assets.

The good news is that many estates never need full probate at all. This guide shows you exactly how the statutory fee is computed, walks a real example, lists the other costs, and then points you to the far cheaper summary paths.

This is an educational guide prepared by a Legal Document Assistant. It is not legal advice, and ProbateClear is not a law firm.

The California statutory fee schedule

For an ordinary probate, California law (Probate Code §10810) fixes the fee as a sliding percentage of the estate's value:

This isn't a negotiated rate or a quote — it's the statutory default for ordinary services in a formal probate.

The fee is on GROSS value, not net

The schedule is applied to the gross value of the estate's assets — without subtracting debts or mortgages. A $1,000,000 house with a $700,000 mortgage still computes fees on the full $1,000,000, not on the $300,000 of equity. This single rule is why so many "asset-rich, equity-poor" estates face fees that feel wildly out of proportion to what the family actually inherits.

The fee is paid twice

Here's the part that catches people off guard. The same statutory schedule is paid separately to two parties:

• the attorney for ordinary legal services, and
• the personal representative (the executor or administrator) for ordinary services.

So the ordinary fees are effectively roughly double the schedule above. And that's before extraordinary services — will contests, property sales, tax matters — which the court can approve on top.

A worked example: a $1,000,000 estate

Let's run the schedule on a gross estate value of $1,000,000:

That $23,000 is what the attorney is entitled to for ordinary services. The executor is entitled to the same $23,000. So the combined ordinary statutory fees on a $1,000,000 estate come to roughly:

$23,000 + $23,000 ≈ $46,000 — before any other cost.

And remember the gross-value rule: if that $1,000,000 is a home carrying a large mortgage, the fees are still computed on the full $1,000,000.

The other costs on top

The statutory fees aren't the whole bill. A formal probate also carries:

• Court filing fees — a few hundred dollars per petition.
• The probate referee's appraisal fee — 0.1% of the appraised assets (the referee values the estate's non-cash property).
• Newspaper publication — required notice of the proceeding.
• Certified copies — of the letters, orders, and other documents.
• A bond — sometimes required of the personal representative.
• Extraordinary fees — for will contests, property sales, or tax issues, billed separately and approved by the court.

None of these are huge next to the statutory schedule, but they stack on top of it — they don't replace it.

The contrast: summary procedures cost a fraction

Here's why the screener matters. The statutory fee schedule applies to full, formal probate. Most smaller estates qualify for a summary procedure that skips the schedule entirely:

• Small-estate affidavit (§13100) — for personal property (accounts, securities, final pay) under $208,850. No statutory probate fee and no court — just one flat preparation fee, after a 40-day wait.
• Small-value real property affidavit (DE-305 / §13200) — for real property under $69,625. A court filing fee plus one flat preparation fee.
• Succession to real property (DE-310 / §13151) — for a primary residence worth up to $750,000, resolved in one hearing. A court filing fee plus one flat preparation fee.
• Spousal property petition (DE-221) — to confirm or transfer a deceased spouse's share.

The cost gap is enormous

A $1,000,000 estate that needs full probate can run roughly $46,000 in statutory fees alone. The same family, if the estate fits a succession petition, pays a court filing fee plus one flat preparation fee — a small fraction of that. The difference between the two paths is often tens of thousands of dollars, and which path applies turns on how the assets are titled and what they're worth, not on the size of the bill you'd prefer.

So — what does your situation cost?

The honest answer is: it depends on whether you need full probate at all. If you do, the statutory schedule above is the floor. If you don't — and many estates don't — a summary procedure replaces tens of thousands of dollars in percentage fees with a single flat fee.

The fastest way to find out which path applies is to answer a few questions about the estate. You can also see our flat pricing for the summary procedures. You can file any of these yourself — the statutes are public — but a licensed Legal Document Assistant can prepare the right one for a single flat fee, so you're not guessing which path (and which cost) applies.

If you'd like to understand which path fits before looking at cost, start with Do I Need Probate in California?.