Probate Fees by State: Executor Pay, Attorney Fees and What a Missing Heir Adds
Every state decides how the person running an estate, and the lawyer helping them, get paid. A few print a percentage ladder in the statute. Some set a ceiling. Most say “reasonable compensation” and leave the number to the court. Below is the rule in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, checked against the state’s own statute or court rule except where a note says otherwise, followed by the costs a fee table never shows — the ones an estate runs up while it stays open waiting on an heir nobody can reach.
The Short Version
There is no national probate fee. Each state uses one of three systems for the executor (called the personal representative in many states) and often a different one for the estate’s attorney: a statutory percentage schedule that sets the fee from the value of the estate, as in California, New York and Wyoming; a statutory cap or capped commission, as in Iowa, Maryland and Texas; or plain reasonable compensation reviewed by the probate court, which is the rule in more than half the jurisdictions in the table below. Executor and attorney fees are usually the largest items, but they are not the whole bill: filing fees, certified copies of letters, publication of notice to creditors, a bond and appraisals come on top. An heir who cannot be found adds cost of a different kind, because the estate stays open, notice has to reach further, and some states put a court-appointed lawyer into the case for the person who is absent. This is general information, not legal advice.
Watch: Probate Fees by State: How Attorney, Executor and Court Costs Work
The Three Ways a State Sets the Fee
Learn which system your state uses first. The number only means something once you know that.
1. A statutory percentage schedule
A handful of states write the fee into the statute as a sliding scale on the value of the estate. California is the best-known example: Probate Code § 10800 pays the personal representative 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000 and 2% of the next $800,000, with smaller rates above that, and § 10810 pays the attorney on the identical ladder, so the estate pays the schedule twice. Our page on California probate fees, worked through at five estate sizes shows what that comes to. New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Nevada, West Virginia and Wyoming are among the other states that print a percentage schedule for the executor. The detail that changes the answer is the base the percentage runs on. California counts the estate “without reference to encumbrances”, so a mortgaged house enters at full value. Nevada computes on the estate accounted for “less liens and encumbrances”, and Wisconsin’s 2% commission is computed on inventory value less mortgages and liens. Two states with similar-looking rates can therefore produce very different fees on the same house.
Not every schedule works the same way, either. Missouri’s is a minimum, not a maximum: the court may allow more to make the pay reasonable. Florida’s schedules are presumed reasonable, and a Florida attorney who intends to charge by the schedule must first disclose in writing that there is no mandatory statutory attorney fee. Wyoming’s attorney schedule is a default the personal representative and attorney may negotiate lower. Almost every schedule covers only ordinary services; extraordinary work such as litigation, tax matters or selling real estate is usually requested separately and allowed by the court on top.
2. A statutory cap
Other states set a ceiling on ordinary pay, which some statutes let the will or the court displace. Texas pays a 5% commission on cash actually received or paid out, capped at 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate subject to administration, and excludes cash already sitting in the bank at death, life insurance proceeds and money paid to an heir as such. Iowa caps both the personal representative and the attorney at 6% of the first $1,000, 4% up to $5,000 and 2% above that. Maryland caps commissions at 9% of the first $20,000, or $1,800 plus 3.6% of the excess, and then reviews commissions and counsel fees together against a single fair and reasonable total. Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina cap executor pay at 5% on bases their statutes define differently. A cap is a limit, not a target: the court can allow less.
3. Reasonable compensation
By our count of the table below, 28 of the 51 jurisdictions set executor pay by a reasonableness standard with no percentage at all. About half of these use the Uniform Probate Code wording — “a personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services” — and most of those pair it with a section that lets the court review the pay of the representative and of anyone the representative hires, including the attorney. Montana belongs here now; it removed its old percentage cap in 2019, so older sources quoting a Montana percentage describe repealed law. Three states set the standard by court rule rather than statute: Connecticut, Delaware and New Hampshire.
What “Reasonable” Means in Practice
Where the statute names no number, the court decides. Some states tell it exactly what to look at.
“Reasonable” is not a blank cheque, and it is not a percentage in disguise. In practice the representative or the attorney asks for an amount, the interested people get a chance to object, and the court either approves the request or sets a different figure. Several states spell out the factors. Minnesota’s § 524.3-719 weighs the personal representative’s time and labor, the complexity and novelty of the problems, and the responsibilities assumed and results obtained. For attorneys, Minn. Stat. § 525.515 adds the attorney’s experience and knowledge and the sufficiency of the estate’s assets, gives effect to a fee agreement the testator signed, and states that “the value of the estate shall not be the controlling factor.” Wisconsin’s attorney-fee statute uses almost the same words, and Oregon’s says that “no single factor is controlling.”
The review mechanism differs from state to state. Connecticut’s Probate Court decides whether fiduciary and attorney fees are reasonable “whether or not an interested party raises an objection” (Probate Court Rules 39.1 and 39.2). Delaware’s Chancery Rule 192 presumes a fee reasonable unless a beneficiary files an exception. In Utah, if nobody objects to a petition, the reasonable compensation is simply the amount the petition asks for. In Michigan a court that finds compensation excessive must order a refund, which may include interest and penalties, and Colorado likewise requires excessive compensation to be refunded. New Hampshire’s Probate Division Rule 88 asks whether fees are “reasonable for the work, responsibility, and risk.”
Two practical consequences follow. First, in a reasonableness state the fee tracks the work, so anything that makes the administration longer or harder — a disputed claim, property in another state, an heir who cannot be found — tends to show up in the bill. Second, the heirs are the people with standing to question it, which is one more reason every heir needs to be identified and told about the case.
When the Will Sets the Fee
A fee clause in a will can replace the statute, raise a ceiling or cap the pay. How depends on the state.
A will can say what the executor is paid, and several statutes defer to it. In Missouri, the minimum schedule in RSMo § 473.153 applies only when the will provides no compensation or the executor renounces what it provides; otherwise the will’s provision is the full compensation. In Kansas, K.S.A. § 59-1504 makes a will’s compensation provision the executor’s full pay unless renounced in writing, and Indiana and Vermont have a similar rule (in Vermont the court may also order otherwise). In Maryland, the statutory ceiling can be exceeded if the will provides a larger measure of compensation.
Other states treat the will as a reason to step outside the default. North Carolina’s 5% cap does not apply where the will sets the compensation, South Carolina’s statute does not apply where a contract or the will directs otherwise, and in West Virginia the testator may depart from the statutory rates by will. Louisiana starts from whatever the testament provides and uses its 2.5% default only when there is neither a testament figure nor an agreement with the surviving spouse and heirs.
So the first document to read is the will itself. If it names a fee, find out whether your state treats that as the whole entitlement, as an alternative the executor can renounce, or as permission to exceed a cap. If there is no will, the state default applies — and an estate without a will is also where heir questions most often arise, as our guide to probate without a will explains.
Probate Fees by State: Executor and Attorney Compensation
Short summaries. Full percentage schedules appear in the numbered notes, and only where we verified them.
| State | Executor pay | Attorney fees | Statute or rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama [1] | Cap: 2.5% of receipts plus 2.5% of disbursements | Fixed by the court; reviewable for reasonableness | Ala. Code § 43-2-848; §§ 43-2-682, 43-2-850 |
| Alaska | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; court may review | AS 13.16.430; 13.16.440 |
| Arizona | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; court may review | A.R.S. § 14-3719; § 14-3721 |
| Arkansas [2] | Reasonable, with a statutory cap | Statutory schedule unless agreed | Ark. Code Ann. § 28-48-108 |
| California [3] | Statutory schedule | Same statutory schedule | Prob. Code § 10800; § 10810 |
| Colorado [4] | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable compensation (same section) | C.R.S. § 15-10-602 |
| Connecticut [5] | Reasonable, set by court rule | Reasonable, same court rule | Probate Court Rules, Rule 39 |
| Delaware [6] | Reasonable, set by court rule | Reasonable, same court rule | 12 Del. C. § 2305; Chancery Rule 192 |
| District of Columbia | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; statutory factors | D.C. Code § 20-751; § 20-753 |
| Florida [7] | Statutory schedule, presumed reasonable | Statutory schedule, presumed reasonable | Fla. Stat. §§ 733.617, 733.6171 |
| Georgia [8] | Normal commissions: 2.5% in, 2.5% out | Not confirmed from an official source | O.C.G.A. § 53-6-60 |
| Hawaii | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; court may review | HRS § 560:3-719; § 560:3-721 |
| Idaho | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; court may review | Idaho Code § 15-3-719; § 15-3-721 |
| Illinois | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable compensation | 755 ILCS 5/27-1; 5/27-2 |
| Indiana | Just and reasonable; a will’s provision governs unless renounced | Just and reasonable | IC 29-1-10-13 |
| Iowa [9] | Cap: 6% / 4% / 2% | Cap: same as the executor’s | Iowa Code § 633.197; § 633.198 |
| Kansas [10] | Just and reasonable | Just and reasonable | K.S.A. § 59-1717; § 59-1504 |
| Kentucky | Cap: 5% of personal estate plus 5% of income | No statutory schedule; court-approved reasonable fee | KRS § 395.150 |
| Louisiana [11] | Default 2.5% of the inventory | No attorney fee schedule located | La. C.C.P. art. 3351; art. 3351.1 |
| Maine | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; statutory factors | 18-C M.R.S. § 3-719; § 3-721 |
| Maryland [12] | Cap: 9% to $20,000, then $1,800 + 3.6% | Reasonable; combined total reviewed | Est. & Trusts § 7-601; § 7-602 |
| Massachusetts | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; no statutory schedule; reviewed by the Probate and Family Court | M.G.L. c. 190B § 3-719 |
| Michigan | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; court may review and order refunds | MCL 700.3719; 700.3721 |
| Minnesota [13] | Reasonable; statutory factors | Just and reasonable; statutory factors | Minn. Stat. § 524.3-719; § 525.515; § 524.3-721 |
| Mississippi [14] | Set by the chancellor; no percentage | Reasonable, fixed and approved by the chancellor | Miss. Code Ann. § 91-7-299; Uniform Chancery Court Rules 6.02, 6.12, 6.13 |
| Missouri [15] | Minimum schedule, if the will is silent | Same minimum schedule | RSMo § 473.153 |
| Montana [16] | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; the court sets the fee in a dispute | MCA § 72-3-631; § 72-3-634 |
| Nebraska | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; court may review on listed factors | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 30-2480; § 30-2482 |
| Nevada [17] | Statutory schedule | Reasonable; optional value-based schedule | NRS §§ 150.020, 150.060 |
| New Hampshire [18] | Reasonable, set by court rule | Reasonable, same court rule | Probate Division Rule 88 |
| New Jersey [19] | Statutory commissions | No statutory schedule located | N.J.S.A. 3B:18-14, 3B:18-13, 3B:18-6 |
| New Mexico | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; court may review | NMSA 1978, §§ 45-3-719, 45-3-721 |
| New York [20] | Statutory schedule | Fixed by the Surrogate’s Court; no percentage | SCPA § 2307; § 2110 |
| North Carolina [21] | Cap: 5% of receipts and expenditures | Reasonable, as a necessary charge on the estate | G.S. § 28A-23-3 |
| North Dakota | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable; a value-based fee needs a written agreement | N.D.C.C. §§ 30.1-18-19, 30.1-18-21 |
| Ohio [22] | Statutory schedule | Reasonable; the court may fix the amount | R.C. § 2113.35; § 2113.36 |
| Oklahoma [23] | Statutory schedule | No attorney-specific statute located | 58 O.S. §§ 527, 525 |
| Oregon [24] | Statutory schedule | Reasonable; statutory factors | ORS §§ 116.173, 116.183 |
| Pennsylvania | Reasonable and just | No statutory schedule; set by the Orphans’ Court as reasonable | 20 Pa.C.S. § 3537 |
| Rhode Island | As the probate court considers just | No attorney-specific statute located | R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-8; § 33-14-6 |
| South Carolina [25] | Cap: 5%, plus up to 5% of income | Reasonable; court may review | S.C. Code §§ 62-3-719, 62-3-721 |
| South Dakota [26] | Reasonable; default schedule | Reasonable; statutory factors | SDCL § 29A-3-719 |
| Tennessee [27] | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable compensation | Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 30-2-606, 30-2-317 |
| Texas [28] | Cap: 5% of cash in and out | Reasonable, if necessarily incurred | Tex. Est. Code §§ 352.002, 352.051 |
| Utah [29] | Reasonable compensation | Reasonable compensation (same section) | Utah Code § 75-3-718 |
| Vermont | Reasonable fees; a will’s provision governs unless renounced or the court orders otherwise | No attorney-specific statute located | 14 V.S.A. § 1065 |
| Virginia | Reasonable, allowed by the commissioner of accounts | No attorney-specific statute located | Va. Code § 64.2-1208 |
| Washington | Just and reasonable | Just and reasonable | RCW 11.48.210 |
| West Virginia [30] | Statutory schedule | No attorney-specific statute located | W. Va. Code § 44-4-12a |
| Wisconsin [31] | 2% commission | Just and reasonable; statutory factors | Wis. Stat. § 857.05; § 851.40 |
| Wyoming [32] | Statutory schedule | Default schedule, negotiable lower | W.S. §§ 2-7-803, 2-7-804 |
Checked against each state’s own statute or court rule on September 23, 2026. Court filing fees vary by county and are not listed.
Notes to the table
- Alabama: reasonable compensation judged on listed factors, not to exceed 2.5% of the value of all property received and under the personal representative’s control plus 2.5% of all disbursements; extra reasonable compensation for extraordinary services; a written compensation agreement with the decedent or all affected beneficiaries is binding if not unconscionable (§ 43-2-848). The court may fix an attorney’s fee at each settlement (§ 43-2-682). No attorney percentage.
- Arkansas: the official text could not be read (the state’s public-access code sits behind a CAPTCHA), so no figures are printed here. Unofficial copies of the code, which we could not check against the official text, describe court-set “just and reasonable” compensation with a statutory percentage cap on personal property (§ 28-48-108(a)), and a statutory attorney fee schedule unless otherwise agreed, which the court may adjust (§ 28-48-108(d)). Read the section itself for the percentages.
- California: 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, and above $25,000,000 a reasonable amount set by the court. The attorney’s schedule is identical, so both are payable. The base is the estate value without reference to encumbrances. Extraordinary services are extra (§ 10801).
- Colorado: “A fiduciary and his or her lawyer are entitled to reasonable compensation” (§ 15-10-602(1)); excessive compensation must be refunded, and a petition for appointment must disclose the fee basis. Reasonableness factors and a fee-dispute process follow in §§ 15-10-603 and 15-10-604. The older sections 15-12-719 and 15-12-721 were repealed in 2011; a source citing them is out of date.
- Connecticut: the Probate Court determines whether fiduciary and attorney fees are reasonable “whether or not an interested party raises an objection” (Rule 39.1), on nine listed factors for each (Rule 39.2).
- Delaware: the statute hands commissions and attorneys’ fees to Court of Chancery rule. Rule 192 allows both “in a reasonable amount”, lists factors, and presumes the amount reasonable unless a beneficiary files an exception, though the court may still reduce it.
- Florida: personal representative 3% of the first $1,000,000, 2.5% above $1,000,000 to $5,000,000, 2% above $5,000,000 to $10,000,000, 1.5% above $10,000,000, presumed reasonable; extraordinary services extra. Attorney: $1,500 for estates up to $40,000; $750 more above $40,000 to $70,000; $750 more above $70,000 to $100,000; 3% of the next $900,000; 2.5% from $1,000,000 to $3,000,000; 2% from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000; 1.5% from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000; 1% above $10,000,000. The attorney’s schedule is a presumption, not a mandate, and the attorney must disclose in writing that there is no mandatory statutory attorney fee. Amended by ch. 2026-57 (eff. July 1, 2026) to add an extraordinary-service category; fee schedule unchanged.
- Georgia: the figures come from the notice printed on the official Georgia Probate Court Standard Forms (GPCSF 3 and 32), which paraphrase the statute: “normal commissions” of 2.5% of all sums of money received and a like commission on all sums paid out, and on petition up to 3% of the value of property distributed in kind, with special rules for interest and extra compensation. We could not confirm an attorney fee rule from an official source and print none.
- Iowa: reasonable fees not exceeding 6% of the first $1,000, 4% from $1,000 to $5,000, and 2% over $5,000 of the gross inventory assets (life insurance excluded unless payable to the estate), as full compensation for ordinary services. The attorney’s fee is capped at the same schedule (§ 633.198). Extraordinary allowances under § 633.199.
- Kansas: under § 59-1504, a will’s compensation provision is the executor’s full compensation unless renounced in writing.
- Louisiana: an executor receives the amount the testament provides; an administrator, the amount agreed with the surviving spouse and competent heirs or legatees; absent either, 2.5% of the inventory, which the court may increase if inadequate. A representative who is also the succession’s attorney cannot be paid in both roles unless the testament says otherwise (art. 3351.1).
- Maryland: unless the will provides a larger measure, commissions may not exceed 9% of property subject to administration up to $20,000, or $1,800 plus 3.6% of the excess over $20,000. The court caps personal representative commissions and counsel fees together at a fair and reasonable total cost of administration (§ 7-602).
- Minnesota: the personal representative’s factors are time and labor, complexity and novelty, and the responsibilities assumed and results obtained (§ 524.3-719). For the attorney, § 525.515 gives effect to a testator’s written fee agreement; otherwise the court weighs time and labor, the attorney’s experience and knowledge, complexity and novelty, responsibilities and results, and the sufficiency of assets, and “the value of the estate shall not be the controlling factor.”
- Mississippi: the court allows “such sum as the court deems proper considering the value and worth of the estate” and the difficulty of the duties, plus a reasonable attorney’s fee from the estate. There has been no statutory percentage range since a 1989 amendment, and fiduciary and attorney fees may not be based on the value of real property (UCCR 6.12(B)). The statute’s wording is taken from official Mississippi appellate opinions quoting it.
- Missouri: where the will provides no compensation or it is renounced, the minimum is 5% of the first $5,000, 4% of the next $20,000, 3% of the next $75,000, 2.75% of the next $300,000, 2.5% of the next $600,000 and 2% over $1,000,000, on personal property administered plus proceeds of real property sold under court order. The court may allow more to make compensation reasonable. The estate’s attorney gets the same schedule as a minimum. Unusually, this schedule is a floor, not a ceiling.
- Montana: the former percentage cap on personal representative fees was removed in 2019 (Ch. 313, L. 2019). Sources quoting a Montana percentage are describing the old law.
- Nevada: personal representative 4% of the first $15,000, 3% of the next $85,000 and 2% above $100,000, on the estate accounted for less liens and encumbrances; the court may allow more if that is insufficient. An attorney is entitled to reasonable compensation, which may be hourly or, by written agreement signed by the personal representative and approved by the court, value-based at 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, and a reasonable amount above $25,000,000.
- New Hampshire: we found no statute fixing the fee. Rule 88 makes fiduciary and attorney fees subject to court approval and requires them to be “reasonable for the work, responsibility, and risk”, weighing time and labor, size of the estate, skill required, the customary fee, any fee agreement, results, time limits and the length of the professional relationship.
- New Jersey: corpus commissions of 5% of the first $200,000, 3.5% of the excess up to $1,000,000 and 2% over $1,000,000, plus 1% of all corpus for each additional fiduciary; income commissions of 6%. A court may reduce corpus commissions only on a beneficiary’s showing, and may add more for extraordinary services. An attorney serving as fiduciary who performs legal services is allowed “a just counsel fee” in addition to commissions (3B:18-6).
- New York: commissions on sums received and paid out of 5% of the first $100,000, 4% of the next $200,000, 3% of the next $700,000, 2.5% of the next $4,000,000 and 2% above $5,000,000. The attorney’s compensation is fixed by the court (SCPA 2110).
- North Carolina: commissions fixed in the discretion of the clerk of superior court, not to exceed 5% of receipts and expenditures; the cap does not apply where the will sets the compensation (§ 28A-23-3(g)).
- Ohio: 4% of the first $100,000, 3% above $100,000 to $400,000 and 2% above $400,000, on personal property (including income) and proceeds of real property sold; plus 1% on unsold real property and 1% on certain non-probate property, but not joint and survivorship property. Reasonable attorney fees are allowed as an administration expense (§ 2113.36).
- Oklahoma: 5% of the first $1,000, 4% of the next $5,000 and 2.5% above $6,000 of the estate accounted for; any extraordinary-service allowance may not exceed the commissions; co-representatives share one fee.
- Oregon: 7% of the first $1,000, 4% from $1,000 to $10,000, 3% from $10,000 to $50,000 and 2% above $50,000 of property subject to the court’s jurisdiction, plus 1% of non-probate property (excluding life insurance) reportable for Oregon or federal estate tax; more for extraordinary services; the court may approve a different method. For attorney fees “no single factor is controlling” (§ 116.183).
- South Carolina: not to exceed 5% of the appraised value of the probate estate’s personal property plus proceeds of authorized real-property sales (minimum $50), plus up to 5% of estate income; more only with court approval for extraordinary services; the section does not apply where a contract or the will directs otherwise.
- South Dakota: where the will is silent, or in intestacy, the personal representative may be allowed 5% of the first $1,000, 4% from $1,000 to $5,000 and 2.5% above $5,000 of personal property accounted for; real property earns just and reasonable compensation fixed by the court.
- Tennessee: no statutory percentage; the personal representative is credited with “reasonable compensation for services” on settlement of accounts (§ 30-2-606), and reasonable compensation of the personal representative and the personal representative’s counsel is a first-priority cost of administration (§ 30-2-317(a)(1)). Amounts are set by the probate court. We could not read the official code text and checked a secondary copy, so no figure is given.
- Texas: a 5% commission on amounts actually received or paid out in cash, not to exceed 5% of the gross fair market value of the estate subject to administration; no commission on funds on hand or held in a financial institution or brokerage account at death, life insurance proceeds, or cash paid to an heir or legatee as such. Reasonable compensation instead where the representative runs a business or 5% is unreasonably low (§ 352.003).
- Utah: if nobody objects, the reasonable compensation is the amount sought in the petition; on objection the court sets it. Utah numbers the section 75-3-718, not 3-719.
- West Virginia: 5% of the first $100,000, 4% above $100,000 to $400,000, 3% above $400,000 to $800,000 and 2% above $800,000, on administered personal estate and proceeds of real estate sold; plus 1% on unsold real estate and on non-administered property includable for federal estate tax; none on joint and survivorship property. The county commission may reduce, deny or increase it, and a testator may set something different by will.
- Wisconsin: subject to court approval, 2% of the inventory value less mortgages and liens plus net principal gains, or a rate agreed in writing with the decedent or with the recipients of a majority interest. For attorney fees, “the value of the estate may not be the controlling factor” (§ 851.40).
- Wyoming: 10% of the first $1,000, 5% from $1,000 to $5,000, 3% from $5,000 to $20,000 and 2% above $20,000 of the probate estate accounted for, for the personal representative and, as a default, for the estate’s attorney, plus extraordinary fees. The attorney may waive, and the personal representative and attorney may negotiate lower fees (§ 2-7-804(a), (d)). Where one person serves as both, no fee is allowed for ordinary services as personal representative (§ 2-7-805(c)).
What Else Probate Costs, Beyond the Fees
The fee rules above cover people. These are the costs of the court process itself.
Court filing fees. Opening the case, and often filing later papers, carries a court fee. The amount is set by the state or the county and changes from time to time, which is why the table leaves it out. The court clerk’s office publishes the current fee schedule.
Certified copies of letters. Once the court appoints the representative, banks, brokers, title companies and government offices each want to see proof of that authority, usually as a recently certified copy of the letters. A representative dealing with many institutions orders several, and each carries a copying or certification charge. Our page on getting letters of administration covers how they are issued.
Publication of notice to creditors. Most states require the representative to publish a notice telling creditors to present their claims, and the newspaper charges for it. Minnesota, for example, requires publication once a week for two successive weeks. The claim window that follows is also what sets the earliest date an estate can safely close, so it is a time cost as well as a money one.
A bond. A probate bond insures the heirs and creditors against a representative who mismanages the estate, and the premium comes out of the estate. Whether one is required varies: California requires one before letters issue unless the will waives it or every beneficiary waives it in writing, and the court can still order one, while Minnesota requires none in informal proceedings outside a short list of exceptions.
Appraisals, accounting and tax preparation. Real estate, a business interest or collectibles may need a professional valuation, and the estate may owe a final income tax return and fiduciary returns. These are paid to third parties and sit outside both the executor’s and the attorney’s fee.
Carrying costs. Property does not stop costing money because its owner has died. A house in an open estate still needs property tax, insurance, utilities and upkeep, and a vehicle still needs insurance, until the estate can sell or distribute them. These costs are paid for as long as the estate stays open, and they are the costs a missing heir multiplies. The day-to-day duties behind all of this are set out in our guide to what an estate administrator has to do.
Where Fee Estimates Go Wrong
Four assumptions that produce a number well below the real one.
Using the wrong base
Some schedules run on gross value with the mortgage ignored, others on the estate net of liens. The same percentage on a different base is a different fee.
Counting one payee
Where the executor and the attorney each have a statutory entitlement, as in California, budgeting only one of them leaves out half the statutory fee.
Taking the filing fee as the cost
The court’s filing fee is usually the smallest line. Compensation, extraordinary services, bond, publication and appraisal sit on top of it.
Assuming every heir is known
Estimates are built on an estate that closes on schedule. An heir nobody can reach keeps it open, and the costs of an open estate keep running.
The Cost No Fee Table Shows: An Heir Nobody Can Find
Every published fee table assumes the family tree is complete. When it is not, the bill changes shape.
An heir who exists but cannot be located does not lose the inheritance, and the estate cannot simply leave that person out. Courts generally need the heir identified, notified or accounted for before they will let the estate close. Until then, three kinds of cost build up.
Months of carrying costs
While the estate is open, its property still has to be insured, taxed, heated and maintained, and distributions to the heirs who are known are often held back as well. None of that appears in a fee schedule. In a state that pays for time and labor, a longer and more complicated administration also tends to mean more compensable work for the representative and the attorney. Those costs keep running for as long as the estate waits. For how long a case normally takes, see our overview of the probate timeline.
Extra notice, and proof that it was tried
Notice statutes are written around people the petitioner can find. California requires notice of the hearing on a petition for administration to each heir “so far as known to or reasonably ascertainable by the petitioner.” Texas, in a proceeding to declare heirship, serves distributees whose addresses can be found with reasonable diligence directly, and reaches unknown heirs by publication. New York’s Surrogate’s Court rules describe a due-diligence affidavit for unknown distributees that lists the inquiries made. Each of these steps is another filing, another publication or another sworn account of the search, and a court can ask for more before it accepts that a person cannot be found. Where the court wants the effort on paper, a diligent search affidavit for a missing heir is the usual form it takes.
A court-appointed representative, where the state provides one
Some states put a lawyer into the case to speak for the absent heir. In a Texas heirship proceeding, the court “shall appoint an attorney ad litem” to represent the interests of heirs whose names or locations are unknown. Nevada’s fee chapter has a compensation section for attorneys for “minor, absent, unborn, incapacitated or nonresident heirs.” Where such an appointment is made, it is one more professional in the case and, typically, one more fee the estate has to cover. Not every state has this mechanism, and where a state does not, nothing here suggests it does.
Even the end of the road costs something. A share that cannot be delivered does not pass to the other relatives; the statute sets it aside. Minnesota lets the court direct deposit of an unfound heir’s share with the county treasurer, claimable within 21 years, and California allows deposit with the county treasurer in the heir’s name, with a court order required in some cases. A court will usually want to see what was done to find the person before it approves either. In an estate with no will at all, finding the heirs starts with building the family tree, and our guides to finding missing heirs and beneficiaries and to the affidavit of heirship cover the two halves of that work.
Keeping Probate Costs Down
General points, not advice for a particular estate. The attorney handling it is the right person to ask.
Check whether full probate is needed at all. Property held jointly with a right of survivorship, accounts with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation, and insurance or retirement accounts with a named beneficiary usually pass outside probate, and most states let a modest estate be collected by affidavit without a full administration. The limits differ widely; our table of small estate affidavit limits by state sets them out. In a schedule state, qualifying for a small-estate route can remove the statutory fee entirely.
Know which system applies before agreeing to anything. In a reasonableness state, fees are not fixed by statute, and in Florida and Wyoming even the statutory attorney schedules are not mandatory. Asking how a fee will be calculated, and getting the answer in writing, is ordinary practice. In North Dakota, a value-based attorney fee agreement has to be in writing and mailed to the heirs.
Complete the inventory and the heir list early. Schedule fees run on the value of the property in the inventory, so an account or parcel found late changes the fee base after the fact; our guide to finding a deceased person’s assets covers that side. On the heir side, every month an heir stays unaccounted for adds carrying costs, and a long delay can bring extra notice and, in some states, an appointed lawyer.
Ask about waivers. Where a bond can be waived only if every beneficiary signs, the signatures are worth collecting — which, again, means reaching every beneficiary.
When the Estate Is Waiting on One Person
For the executor, administrator or attorney whose notice, consent or distribution is held up by an heir with no current address.
Ask First
Send an inquiry with the decedent’s name and date of death, how the missing heir is related, and whatever identifiers the family has. We tell you whether there is enough to search before anything is paid.
Confirm the Relationship
We check the records against the family relationship the petition assumes. The court decides heirship; we supply the record trail.
Search the Records
Address history, relatives and public records are followed toward a current address where notice could be sent, if the records lead to one. United States subjects only.
A Record for the File
Each finding is dated and sourced. A search that ends without a person still ends with an account of what was examined, which is the kind of record a court may ask to see.
This is the part of probate we work on. We search public records for the heirs of United States estates, under the permissible purpose the estate provides, using the same skip tracing methods we apply to any locate, and a locate starts at $129. We cannot say in advance what the records will show. Read how our heir location service works, then send an inquiry.
Who Uses This Page
People who need the fee rule, and sometimes the missing name, before an estate can move.
Executors and Administrators
You are deciding whether to take a fee and need to know what your state allows.
Heirs and Beneficiaries
You want to know whether the fees in an accounting follow the rule for the state.
Probate Attorneys
An estate is held open by an heir with no address, and the file needs a documented search.
Families Weighing a Route
You are comparing full probate with a small-estate affidavit and need the cost of each.
What We Do, and Where We Stop
We research family relationships and current whereabouts from public records for United States estates, under the permissible purpose the estate supplies, and we document every step. We do not set or review fees, and we do not decide heirship; the court does both. We do not predict what a search will turn up, and where the records run out we say so plainly. Nothing here is legal advice, and the statute or court rule of the state handling the estate controls. One limit is fixed: we do not trace a relative who holds a protective order or restraining order, who is enrolled in an address confidentiality program, or who left the family because of abuse. Reaching a person in that position is a matter for the court or for counsel, and we will decline the request.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does probate cost on average, and why do the percentage estimates vary so much?
There is no reliable national average, because the largest items, executor and attorney compensation, are set differently in every state. A few states fix them with a percentage schedule on the value of the estate, some cap them, and most leave them to the court as reasonable compensation. Schedules also run on different bases: California ignores the mortgage, while Nevada deducts liens and encumbrances. Add filing fees, bond, publication and appraisal, which vary by county, and any single percentage quoted for the whole country is a rough guess rather than a rule.
Which states set probate attorney and executor fees by statute, and which use “reasonable compensation”?
California, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Nevada, West Virginia and Wyoming print percentage schedules for the executor, and California and Wyoming apply a schedule to the attorney as well. Missouri’s schedule is a minimum, and Florida’s schedules are presumed reasonable. Alabama, Texas, Iowa, Maryland, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina cap executor pay. Most other states use reasonable compensation reviewed by the court. The table on this page gives the rule for all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
What does it cost just to file for probate in my state?
Court filing fees are set by the state or county and change from time to time, so this page does not list them. The probate court clerk’s office in the county where the person lived publishes the current fee schedule. The filing fee is usually a small part of the total; compensation for the executor and attorney, a bond, publication of notice to creditors and appraisals normally cost more.
Who pays probate fees – the executor, the heirs, or the estate?
Ordinarily the estate. Executor compensation, attorney fees allowed by the court, filing fees, bond premiums and publication costs are paid from estate assets before the heirs receive their shares, so the heirs bear them indirectly through a smaller distribution. Ohio, for example, allows reasonable attorney fees paid by the executor or administrator as part of the expenses of administration.
Are probate attorney fees negotiable?
In many states, yes. Where the standard is reasonable compensation, there is no statutory figure to begin with. Florida requires the attorney to disclose in writing that there is no mandatory statutory attorney fee, and Wyoming’s statute says the personal representative and attorney may negotiate lower fees. In a schedule state such as California the ordinary fee follows the statute, but extraordinary fees still need a court award.
Can a small estate avoid most probate fees?
Often, yes. Most states let an estate under a set value be collected by affidavit or a simplified procedure without a full administration, and a statutory percentage fee for a full administration does not apply where no full administration takes place. The limits and waiting periods differ from state to state, and the person using the affidavit still has to account for every heir.
How much can an executor or administrator be paid?
It depends on the state and sometimes on the will. In California the executor receives 4% of the first $100,000 of the estate, 3% of the next $100,000 and 2% of the next $800,000, with lower rates above that. Texas pays 5% of cash received and paid out, capped at 5% of the estate’s gross value. In reasonableness states the court sets the amount, and in Missouri, Kansas, Indiana and Vermont a compensation clause in the will generally controls unless the executor renounces it.
Does a missing or unknown heir make probate cost more?
Usually, yes. The estate stays open longer, so carrying costs such as insurance, taxes and upkeep on property keep running. Notice has to reach further, sometimes by publication, and courts may ask for a sworn account of the search. Some states also appoint a lawyer for the absent heir: in a Texas heirship proceeding the court must appoint an attorney ad litem for heirs whose names or locations are unknown. Those costs keep running for as long as the heir is unaccounted for.
An Estate Held Open by One Missing Heir
Start by reading how heir location works, then send an inquiry with the decedent’s details and what the family knows about the relative who cannot be reached. We tell you whether there is enough to search before any money changes hands. United States estates only.
