California Probate Fees Are Set by Statute, and Charged Twice
Most people meet California’s probate fee schedule twice: once when they read the percentages and think it sounds tolerable, and once when they see the bill. Two things account for the gap. The same statutory ladder is payable to the attorney and to the personal representative — two separate fees, identical amounts. And the value it is calculated on is the gross appraised value, with the mortgage expressly ignored. A $500,000 house carrying $400,000 of debt is billed as $500,000.
The Short Version
For ordinary services, Probate Code § 10810 sets the attorney’s compensation at four percent of the first $100,000, three percent of the next $100,000, two percent of the next $800,000, one percent of the next $9,000,000, and one-half of one percent of the next $15,000,000, with anything above $25,000,000 left to the court. § 10800 sets the personal representative’s compensation using the same ladder, and both are payable from the estate. Both sections define the base the same way: the appraisal value of the property in the inventory, adjusted for gains and losses on sales and for receipts, “without reference to encumbrances or other obligations on estate property.” That is why a mortgaged house is billed on its full value. On a $500,000 estate the statutory total is $26,000 before any extraordinary fees or court costs. This is general information and not legal advice. Where we come in is earlier: an estate cannot be valued, and these fees cannot even be estimated, until every asset has been found.
Watch: California Probate Fees: Why a $500,000 Estate Costs $26,000
The Statutory Ladder, and the Fact That It Runs Twice
One schedule, two payees, both out of the estate.
California does not leave ordinary probate compensation to negotiation. Probate Code § 10810 fixes what the attorney for the personal representative receives for ordinary services, on a sliding scale: four percent of the first $100,000, three percent of the next $100,000, two percent of the next $800,000, one percent of the next $9,000,000, one-half of one percent of the next $15,000,000, and above $25,000,000 a reasonable amount determined by the court.
The detail that surprises people is in § 10800. The personal representative — the executor or administrator, often a family member — is entitled to compensation on the identical ladder. The two sections carry the same six brackets and the same rates. So the schedule is not the cost of probate; it is half the cost of probate.
A representative who is also a beneficiary sometimes waives the fee, because it is taxable income to them where an inheritance generally is not. That is a decision to take with an accountant, not an assumption to build on. And both figures are for ordinary services only: § 10811 allows the court to award additional compensation for extraordinary services, which is where contested matters, litigation, tax work and sales of real property are dealt with. Filing fees, publication, bond premiums, appraisal costs and probate referee fees sit outside both figures again.
What the Statutory Schedule Actually Costs
Ordinary services only. Both columns are payable, so the right-hand column is the statutory total.
| Gross estate value (before debts) | Attorney § 10810 | Representative § 10800 | Statutory total | Effective rate on gross |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $200,000 | $7,000 | $7,000 | $14,000 | 7.00% |
| $500,000 | $13,000 | $13,000 | $26,000 | 5.20% |
| $750,000 | $18,000 | $18,000 | $36,000 | 4.80% |
| $1,000,000 | $23,000 | $23,000 | $46,000 | 4.60% |
| $2,000,000 | $33,000 | $33,000 | $66,000 | 3.30% |
Two cautions on reading that table. The left column is gross value with encumbrances ignored, so a mortgaged property enters at its full appraised figure and the effective rate against what the family actually inherits is far higher than the percentage shown. And these are ordinary fees only — extraordinary compensation under section 10811, filing fees, publication, bond, appraisal and probate referee costs are all additional.
The Sentence That Makes the Mortgage Irrelevant
This is the part that turns a manageable-looking estate into a large bill.
Both sections define the base identically, and the operative words are worth reading closely. The value of the estate accounted for by the personal representative is the total amount of the appraisal value of property in the inventory, plus gains over the appraisal value on sales, plus receipts, less losses from the appraisal value on sales, “without reference to encumbrances or other obligations on estate property.”
That last clause is doing enormous work. It means the fee is calculated on what the property is worth, not on what the estate is worth. Take a California home appraised at $700,000 with a $500,000 mortgage against it. The family’s equity is $200,000. The fee base is $700,000. Attorney and representative are each entitled to $17,000, so $34,000 leaves an estate whose real net value was $200,000 — roughly seventeen percent of it.
This is also why the small-estate routes matter so much in California. If an estate can be settled without a full administration, none of this schedule applies at all. Whether it can turns on thresholds that were adjusted for deaths on or after 1 April 2025, and on the fact that the figures printed in the Probate Code itself are no longer the operative ones — our guide to the California small estate affidavit and its current limits sets out the figures that actually govern. It is the first thing worth checking in any California estate, because the difference between qualifying and not qualifying is frequently tens of thousands of dollars.
Where Fee Estimates Go Wrong
Four assumptions that produce a number well below the real one.
Netting the mortgage off first
The most expensive error. Both statutes compute the base “without reference to encumbrances”, so debt against a property does not reduce the fee. An estate is often billed on several times the equity the family will receive.
Counting the schedule once
The attorney’s fee under section 10810 and the representative’s under section 10800 are separate entitlements on the same ladder. Budgeting one of them halves the estimate.
Treating the statutory fee as the whole bill
Extraordinary services under section 10811 are awarded on top, and court filing fees, publication, bond premiums, appraisals and probate referee fees sit outside the schedule entirely.
Valuing the estate before it is complete
An account or parcel found after the inventory is filed changes the base the fee is computed on, and it usually surfaces after distributions have already been made.
You Cannot Estimate the Fee Until the Estate Is Whole
Every figure above depends on an inventory, and inventories are where estates go wrong.
The fee is charged on the property in the inventory. So an asset nobody knew about does not merely delay the estate — it changes the number the fee is computed on, and it surfaces at the worst possible moment, after distributions have been made and the representative has signed accounts.
The assets that go missing are predictable. A bank account at an institution that has since been acquired twice. A pension or annuity from an employer forty years ago. A life insurance policy nobody can produce. A parcel of land in another county, or another state, that never appeared on a tax bill the family saw. Safe deposit boxes. Shares held directly with a transfer agent rather than in a brokerage account.
That search is what we do. If you are inventorying an estate and suspect something is unaccounted for, our guides to finding a deceased person’s assets and tracing a deceased relative’s bank accounts set out what the records will and will not give you. When you want it done rather than explained, send us the estate details and we will tell you what is realistically findable first. The underlying skip tracing and records research is the same discipline we apply to locating people.
How We Work an Incomplete Estate
What happens when the inventory does not feel finished.
Send the Decedent and the Known Estate
Full name, dates and places of birth and death, states lived in, and the assets already identified. An open estate is what makes an asset search lawful, so tell us where it stands.
We Search for What Is Not on the List
Real property across counties and states, accounts at institutions that have merged or renamed, policies, annuities and unclaimed property held by state treasuries.
We Report What Exists and Where
Each item is reported with the record it came from and its date, so it can be handed to the attorney or entered on the inventory without being taken on trust.
You Value the Estate on Complete Information
Where a search returns nothing, you receive a dated account of what was looked at, which is itself useful to a representative who has to certify an inventory.
Who This Is For
People who need the number before they commit to a route.
Executors and Administrators
You have to certify an inventory and you are personally answerable for it. Knowing what is missing matters more than knowing the percentages.
Probate Attorneys
A fee estimate given on an incomplete inventory is a conversation you have to have twice. Completing the asset picture early avoids it.
Beneficiaries Weighing a Route
Whether an estate can avoid full administration is usually worth more than any other decision in the file, and it turns on valuation.
Trustees and Fiduciaries
A trust that turns out to hold an unfunded or forgotten asset raises the same valuation problem in a different instrument.
Our Commitment
We locate the accounts, property and policies that belong in an estate inventory, and we report each with the record and date it came from. We work United States estates, under a stated permissible purpose, for executors, attorneys and fiduciaries since 2004. Where a search returns nothing, you get a dated and sourced account of what was examined rather than a guess. Most searches come back within 24 hours. Nothing here is legal or tax advice, and fee questions in a specific estate belong with the attorney handling it. One boundary worth stating plainly, because an asset search is capable of being misused: we take estate matters, where the subject is a decedent. We do not run asset or address work against a living person who is protected by a restraining order or an order of protection, who is in an address confidentiality or Safe at Home program, or who left a household because of abuse. If that describes your situation, the route runs through the court that issued the order or through counsel, and we will decline the search.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much are probate fees in California?
For ordinary services the statutory schedule is four percent of the first $100,000, three percent of the next $100,000, two percent of the next $800,000, one percent of the next $9,000,000 and one-half of one percent of the next $15,000,000. Above $25,000,000 the court sets a reasonable amount. On a $500,000 estate that is $13,000 — and it is payable twice, so $26,000.
Why is the fee charged twice?
Because two people are entitled to it. Probate Code section 10810 sets the attorney’s compensation for ordinary services and section 10800 sets the personal representative’s, on the same six-bracket ladder. Both are paid from the estate. Budgeting only the attorney’s fee halves the real figure.
Is the fee calculated after the mortgage is deducted?
No, and this is the most costly misunderstanding on the topic. Both sections compute the base “without reference to encumbrances or other obligations on estate property”. A property appraised at $700,000 with a $500,000 mortgage enters the calculation at $700,000, even though the estate’s equity is $200,000.
Can the executor waive their fee?
Often yes, and a representative who is also a beneficiary sometimes does, because the fee is taxable income to them while an inheritance generally is not. Whether it makes sense in a particular estate is a question for an accountant or the attorney handling the matter, not a general rule.
What are extraordinary fees?
Compensation the court may award under section 10811 on top of the ordinary schedule, for services beyond the routine administration — contested matters, litigation, tax work and sales of real property are typical examples. They are requested from and approved by the court, not set by the ladder.
Is there any way to avoid the schedule entirely?
If the estate can be settled without a full administration, the schedule does not apply. California has several small-estate routes with their own ceilings, and those ceilings changed for deaths on or after 1 April 2025. Whether an estate qualifies is worth checking before anything else, because it is usually the single largest cost decision in the file.
Does the fee depend on how much work the attorney actually did?
Not for ordinary services. That is the point of a statutory schedule: it is computed from the value of the estate accounted for, not from hours. Extraordinary services are the exception, and they require a court award.
How does locating a missing asset change the fee?
It raises the base the fee is computed on, because the schedule runs on the property in the inventory. That is a reason to complete the asset picture before the inventory is filed rather than after distributions have been made. We work United States estates only, and most searches come back within 24 hours.
An Estate You Cannot Value Because Something Is Missing
Send the decedent’s details and the assets you already have. We search for the accounts, property and policies that belong on the inventory and report each with its source — typically within 24 hours. Contact us to get started.
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