How Much Does Probate Cost in California?

In California, most of what probate costs is set by state law, not by your attorney's hourly rate. The two biggest pieces are the attorney fee and the personal representative fee, and both are figured as a percentage of the estate's gross value. On a typical estate that includes a home, that runs well into the thousands, and often the tens of thousands, before you add court costs. Here is how it actually breaks down.

The fee is set by a state schedule

California law sets the attorney fee for a standard probate on a sliding scale tied to the value of the estate:

• 4% of the first $100,000

• 3% of the next $100,000

• 2% of the next $800,000

• 1% of the next $9 million

The percentage keeps stepping down for larger estates. The key thing to understand is that this is not negotiable in the usual sense. It is the statutory fee, and it applies whether the case is simple or complicated.

That same fee can apply twice

Here is the part that catches families off guard. The statutory schedule applies to the attorney, and it applies again to the personal representative, meaning the executor or administrator running the estate. Each one is entitled to the same statutory amount.

So when you see a fee figure for probate, the real cost to the estate can be close to double that, because two people are each entitled to it. Many family members who serve as executor choose to waive their fee, especially when they are also inheriting, but they are not required to.

It is based on gross value, not what is left over

This surprises almost everyone. The fee is calculated on the gross value of the estate, not the equity. Debts and the mortgage do not reduce it.

Say your parent's house is worth $600,000 with a $400,000 mortgage still on it. The fee is figured on the full $600,000, not on the $200,000 of equity. So a fairly modest estate on paper can carry a fee that feels out of proportion to what the family actually receives.

A real example

Take an estate worth $600,000, most of it the house. The statutory attorney fee works out like this:

• 4% of the first $100,000 = $4,000

• 3% of the next $100,000 = $3,000

• 2% of the remaining $400,000 = $8,000

That is $15,000 for the attorney. If the personal representative also takes the statutory fee, add another $15,000. And this is before court costs.

The other costs on top

Beyond the statutory fee, a probate carries its own hard costs:

• Court filing fees to open and close the case

• The probate referee, a court-appointed appraiser who values the estate's assets for a small percentage

• Publication of a legal notice in a newspaper

• A bond in some cases

There can also be extra fees, called extraordinary fees, for work beyond the ordinary, like selling real estate, handling a will contest, or dealing with tax issues. Those are on top of the statutory fee and have to be approved by the court.

And it takes time

Probate in California is not quick. A straightforward case commonly runs somewhere from nine months to a year and a half, and a complicated one can run longer. During that time the assets are generally tied up in the process.

That time and cost is the reason so many families set up a living trust. A funded trust keeps the estate out of probate entirely, which means no statutory fee, no court timeline, and no public case file.

Local note for Coachella Valley families

If a probate is required, Riverside County hears these matters at the Larson Justice Center in Indio, and that is where I handle probate for families across the Coachella Valley. A lot of the estates I see here are home-heavy, which is exactly the situation where the gross-value fee stings the most. If you are looking at a parent's estate and trying to figure out what it will cost, I can give you a real number based on what they owned.

What to do next

If someone has passed and you want to know what probate will actually cost the estate, bring me a rough picture of what they owned and how it was titled. I will walk you through the likely fee and the process in plain terms.

Call (760) 332-8204 or book online to schedule a complimentary consultation. We can meet at my Palm Desert office or over Zoom.