California Probate Fee Calculator
A quick, accurate way to estimate statutory probate fees under California Probate Code §10810. Enter the gross value of the estate to see the total attorney fees and executor commissions.
How California Probate Fees Work
California probate attorney fees are determined by statute and not by the number of hours worked. According to Probate Code §10810, a lawyer who handles an average probate case receives 4% of the first $100,000 in the estate, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, and 1% of any amount over $9 million. This means that a $750,000 estate would result in an attorney fee of $18,000.
Then it happens again. The executor is entitled to the same amount under §10800, so the number most families actually look at is $36,000.
Those percentages apply to the gross value of the estate. Mortgages and other debts are not subtracted first.
Enter the gross value below to see both figures. The sections underneath the calculator explain what the estimate covers, what it excludes, and when none of it applies to you at all.
The Statutory Fee Schedule, Tier by Tier
The schedule works like income tax. An attorney doesn’t take 4% of a $2 million estate. Instead, they take 4% of the first $100,000 and smaller percentages after that.
|
Portion of estate |
Rate |
|---|---|
|
First $100,000 |
4% |
|
Next $100,000 |
3% |
|
Next $800,000 |
2% |
|
Next $9,000,000 |
1% |
|
Next $15,000,000 |
0.5% |
|
Above $25,000,000 |
A reasonable amount, set by the court |
One technical point that matters in larger estates is the statute that calculates fees based on the “value of the estate accounted for.” This value is determined by the inventory and appraised value, plus any gains from sales and certain receipts, and minus losses from sales. For most estates, this number is simply the appraised inventory value. If an estate sells a house for more than the appraised amount, the gain is added to the base, and the fee increases accordingly.
The Same Fee, Charged Twice
Section 10800 provides the personal representative – the executor named in the will, or the administrator appointed if there is none – with the same schedule. The same brackets, the same math, are run a second time.
|
Gross Estate Value |
Attorney Fee |
Executor Fee |
Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$300,000 |
$9,000 |
$9,000 |
$18,000 |
|
$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 |
Most people budget for the left column and are blindsided by the right one.
The executor’s commission can be waived, and in family estates, it often is. This is for tax reasons, not just generosity. An inheritance is not taxable income for the beneficiary, but the executor’s compensation is reported as income. If the executor is also the primary beneficiary, accepting the commission usually means paying taxes on money they would have received anyway. Waiver leaves the full amount of the estate for distribution.
Fees Are Calculated on Gross Value, Not on Your Equity
This is the single most common misconception about California probate and it’s expensive.
A house worth $700,000 with a mortgage of $500,000 against it is an asset of $700,000 for estate planning purposes. The mortgage is not deducted. Nor are credit card balances, medical bills, car loans, or the deceased’s final tax liability. The basis is what the estate owns, gross, appraised at fair market value at the date of death.
Run it out with a realistic example of a Placer County home. A Roseville house appraised at $700,000 with a $500,000 mortgage balance and $40,000 in checking account funds. The total value is $740,000. Attorney fees are $17,800 and executor fees are another $17,800, for a combined total of $35,600.
The family’s actual equity in that estate is $240,000.
So, the statutory fees take up approximately 15% of what heirs would actually receive, even though they look like only 4.8% on paper. This is especially true for highly leveraged estates in high-value housing markets, which Placer County has a lot of. A modest inheritance may have a fee structure designed for a much larger amount.
The rule is not arbitrary. Statutory compensation is based on the estate that the representative is responsible for managing, and a mortgage must be insured, maintained, assessed, and either transferred or sold. The practical consequences are what matter to families: refinancing a HELOC or a recent cash-out does not lower probate fees. This raises the debt without affecting the amount used by the court.
Extraordinary Fees Under §10811
The statutory fee covers ordinary probate administration, including filing the petition, giving notice, publishing, preparing an inventory, handling routine creditor claims, preparing accounting, and distributing assets.
Anything beyond this is considered “extraordinary”, and §10811 allows the attorney to petition the court for additional compensation. The main triggers for this are:
- Selling real property. This is the most common trigger by far. Any court-approved sale involves work that the ordinary fee does not cover.
- Tax work – final personal returns, fiduciary returns, estate tax returns, or resolving a lien.
- Property located in another state, which often means a second proceeding there.
- Litigation. This includes will contests, creditor disputes, petitions to determine ownership of an asset, and claims against the estate.
- Operating a business that the decedent owned, even temporarily, while the estate decides what to do with it.
- Title problems, missing heirs, or assets that nobody knew about until the referee started appraising them.
The Costs the Calculator Doesn’t Cover
The Calculator does not take into account the administrative costs associated with handling a probate case, which are incurred in nearly every estate.
- Court filing fee – $435. This is set by Government Code §70650 for the probate petition, with a second payment of $435 for the final distribution petition. Some individual counties may have additional fees for specific filings.
- Probate referee – 0.1% of what the referee appraises. A court-appointed referee appraises the estate’s non-cash assets. Under §8961, the commission is one tenth of one percent plus the actual and necessary expenses of the referee.
- Publication – approximately $200 to $1,000. In California, the petition must be published in a newspaper with a general circulation. The cost varies widely depending on the newspaper that serves the county.
- Bond premium. If the bond is not waived and the heirs do not, the executor posts a surety bond. The premiums are around half a percent of the bond amount per year.
- Certified copies, recording fees, and specialty appraisals – small individually. Certified letters get requested more often than anyone expects, and a business or collection may need its own appraiser.
Who Pays These Fees, and When
The estate pays. Not the executor or the beneficiaries, out of pocket.
Fees are also paid at the end, not upfront. Statutory attorney and executor compensation require a court order, which usually comes with a petition for final distribution after the accounting is approved. In longer cases, the court may authorize partial payment on account before the estate is closed, but nothing is paid until the judge signs off.
That matters for a family worrying about affording a probate attorney. You generally don’t write a retainer check. The executor can advance the filing fee and publication costs upfront and get reimbursed by the estate, and those out-of-pocket expenses – postage, travel, property maintenance, insurance premiums – are also reimbursable, provided receipts are kept.
When None of This Applies
Plenty of California estates do not need full probate, and the thresholds have changed significantly for deaths occurring on or after April 1, 2025.
- The primary residence up to $750,000 was increased under AB 2016. This raised the limit for a petition to determine succession to primary residence from $184,500 to $750,000, as per Probate Code §13151. This is a court petition, but it is not a full probate and no statutory fee schedule applies.
- Assets that skip probate entirely: property in a living trust, jointly owned real estate, pay-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, retirement accounts, and life insurance with a named beneficiary – these do not count toward any threshold or affect the statutory fee.
- Personal property estates up to $208,850. A §13100 small estate affidavit transfers bank accounts, vehicles, and investment accounts without any court filing after a 40-day waiting period. Read the threshold carefully because it can trip people up. The $208,850 limit is measured against the total value of the deceased person’s real and personal property in California, not just their personal property that was collected.
Probate Fee FAQs
Talk to Someone Before You File
The cheapest hour in any probate process is the one spent before the petition is submitted. Bring a death certificate, a will if there is one, and a rough list of your loved one’s assets. We will tell you which process is appropriate, what the statutory fee actually is for this estate, and how long Placer County likely will take.