Probate Lawyer Cost: Statutory Fees, Hourly Rates and Who Pays

Probate lawyer cost depends mostly on your state. California sets the attorney's fee by law as a percentage of the estate, while most other states let the lawyer bill by the hour or a flat fee, as long as it's reasonable. In both cases the fee is usually paid from the estate, not from the executor's own pocket.

California's schedule (Probate Code § 10810) applies to ordinary probate work for the personal representative:

Estate value	Rate on that part	Total fee at the top of the band
First $100,000	4%	$4,000
Next $100,000 (to $200,000)	3%	$7,000
Next $800,000 (to $1 million)	2%	$23,000
Next $9 million (to $10 million)	1%	$113,000
Next $15 million (to $25 million)	0.5%	$188,000
Above $25 million	Set by the court	Court decides

The estate value for this purpose is the appraised value of the property in probate, plus gains on sales and receipts, minus losses. Mortgages and other debts aren't subtracted (§ 10810(b)). So a $600,000 house with a $400,000 mortgage still counts as $600,000, and the fee on it alone would be $15,000. We checked the section on November 6, 2026.

Run your own numbers

Put in the gross value of the probate estate. For a state without a fee schedule, add the hourly rate and the hours a lawyer quoted.

At the default $600,000, California's fee is $15,000. The hourly line shows 30 hours at $350, or $10,500. Those two numbers are only examples to change: hours vary a lot with the estate, and a contested probate can take many times longer.

What a probate lawyer does

A probate lawyer guides the executor or administrator through the court process: filing the will and the petition, getting the representative appointed, notifying heirs and creditors, inventorying and valuing the property, paying valid debts and taxes, and preparing the final accounting and distribution. In a contested estate, the lawyer also handles disputes over the will or over who inherits. Knowing which of these tasks your estate needs is the best way to judge a quote.

How probate is billed in other states

Outside California, most probate lawyers bill in one of three ways:

• Hourly. The most common. You pay for the time spent on filings, notices, inventories, creditor claims and the final accounting.
• Flat fee. Some lawyers quote one price for a simple estate, with hourly billing if a dispute or a tax problem comes up.
• Percentage. A few lawyers in states without a schedule still quote a percentage. You can ask for hourly instead and compare.

Whatever the method, the fee has to be reasonable under each state's version of ABA Model Rule 1.5. In most states, heirs and beneficiaries can ask the probate court to review a fee they think is too high.

Who pays the probate lawyer

The lawyer works for the executor or administrator, and the fee is paid from estate funds as an expense of administration. Heirs bear the cost indirectly, because it reduces what's left to distribute. An executor who hires a lawyer for personal reasons, such as defending against a claim of misconduct, may have to pay that part personally.

Ways the bill gets smaller

Not everything a person owns goes through probate. These usually pass outside it:

• accounts with a named beneficiary, such as life insurance, retirement plans and payable-on-death accounts;
• property held in joint tenancy with a right of survivorship;
• assets in a living trust;
• small estates, which many states let heirs collect with an affidavit or a short procedure. The limits differ by state.

In California, this matters twice: property outside probate isn't counted in the § 10810 fee. A lawyer can tell you which assets actually need to go through the court.

Questions to ask a probate lawyer

1. Do you bill hourly, a flat fee or the statutory fee, and why?
2. What do you estimate for a simple administration, and what would make it more?
3. Who on your team does the routine work, and at what rate?
4. Are court filing fees, publication and appraisal costs extra?
5. Which assets do you see passing outside probate?