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California Probate Costs And Fees

Written by: Mitchell Allan Port

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Estate Planning Probate

Posted about 3 years ago. Applies to California, 3 helpful votes, 0 comments

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Court Filing Fee

The cost to file for probate is $320 no matter what is the value of the estate. Before the law changed in March, 2008 when the California Court of Appeal issued its ruling in the Estate of Pierre P. Claeyssens, eight different incremental amounts were charged as filing fees.

Publication Fee

Next, a publication fee is charged by the local newspaper where the decedent died which announces the person’s death and how interested persons can contact the attorney, executor or administrator. The cost to run legal notice depends on the area, but fees can generally be between $200 to $500.

Probate Referee

An appraisal by a court-appointed independent third party (a probate referee) is necessary if there are real property or other non-cash assets in the estate. The probate referee ordinarily charges 1/10 of 1% of the appraised value in each case plus miscellaneous charges (e.g., mileage, photos).

Bond

Often a bond must be posted by the executor or administrator to insure that if the value of the probate property declines as a result of the executor’s or administrator’s misconduct, a bond will make the estate whole again. Obtaining such a probate bond can be costly and depends on the value of the property subject to the bond. If there is a Will and if it waives the bond requirement, then the California Probate Court will often - but not always - waive the bond.

Real Property Expenses

The costs of paying the mortgage, property taxes and homeowner's insurance for the real property need to be paid as well so as to avoid foreclosure by the lender or the imposition of a lien by the local tax authority.

Attorney's and Executor's Fees

Attorney's fees are also based on the value of the gross estate. The fee is calculated based on a statutory formula. The fees are 4% of the first $100,000 of the estate, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, 1% of the next $9,000,000, and 1/2% of the next $15,000,000. For estates larger than $25,000,000, the court will determine the fee.