Probate Attorney and Executor Fees by State (2026): What Each Costs and Where It’s Highest

By Dai Luong Ngo|Updated August 4, 2026

This article is educational and not legal advice; consult a licensed probate attorney in your state. Statutory figures reflect 2025–2026 probate codes as published by the named state authorities and are current as of publication.

TL;DR — Quick Verdict

Only a handful of states set probate fees by statute. California’s schedule (Probate Code §10810 and §10800) pays the attorney and the executor the same percentage, so a $1,000,000 estate generates roughly $23,000 to each — about $46,000 combined before court costs.
Most states use a “reasonable compensation” model instead. There, attorneys typically bill $200–$500 per hour or a flat fee of $3,000–$7,000 for an uncontested estate, and executor pay must be justified to the court.
Florida’s schedule (§733.6171) is a presumed-reasonable ceiling you can negotiate below; a $500,000 estate carries a presumed attorney fee near $13,000, but many firms quote flat fees of $3,000–$5,000.
New York executor commissions (SCPA 2307) run 5% on the first $100,000 down to 2% above $5 million — $34,000 on a $1,000,000 estate.
Statutory-schedule states punish large gross estates hardest. If your estate exceeds ~$500,000 and sits in California, avoiding probate through a living trust usually saves far more than it costs.

When a $1,000,000 California estate goes through probate, the attorney and the executor are each entitled to about $23,000 — a combined $46,000 skimmed off the top before a single heir is paid, calculated under California Probate Code §10810 and §10800. That figure surprises nearly every family, because it is set by statute on the estate’s gross value, with no deduction for the mortgage on the house. California recorded 41,985 estate and trust probate filings in fiscal year 2024–2025, according to court data compiled by structured-settlement analysts, and a large share paid on this schedule.

Probate cost is not one number — it is two questions layered on top of each other: what does the attorney get, and what does the executor (the “personal representative”) get. This article breaks down both, separates the small group of statutory-schedule states from the “reasonable compensation” majority, runs the actual math on $250,000, $500,000, and $1,000,000 estates, and shows where the fee model itself should change your planning. Vendors like Trust & Will and LegalZoom market probate-avoidance products against exactly these numbers; understanding the underlying schedules tells you whether that pitch holds up in your state.

Two Fee Models: Statutory Schedule vs. Reasonable Compensation

Every state’s probate cost falls into one of two camps, and which camp you are in matters more than any single dollar figure. A small group — California, Florida, and a handful of others — writes the fee into the probate code as a percentage of estate value. The rest use a “reasonable compensation” standard, where a judge approves fees based on time spent, complexity, and results.

The distinction has real consequences. In a statutory-schedule state, you can calculate the attorney and executor fees before you file, and neither can charge more for ordinary work. In a reasonable-compensation state there is no published number: the fee is whatever the court will approve, which can be a feature when a family member waives compensation or a friction point when the amount must be defended line by line. Settled Estate, an estate-administration research group, notes that among the 22 states it covers in depth, 14 set executor pay by a calculable percentage or cap while 8 use the open-ended standard.

One more structural point drives most of the sticker shock. In California, the attorney and the personal representative are each paid on the identical schedule — the total statutory fee for routine work is double the single-column number. Florida and New York separate the two: the attorney fee and the executor commission run on different statutes and different percentages. When you compare states, always confirm whether you are looking at one fee or two.

Statutory Fee Schedules: California and Florida Compared

California’s schedule under Probate Code §10810 is the most-cited in the country because it is both high and non-negotiable for ordinary services. It runs 4% on the first $100,000, 3% on the next $100,000, 2% on the next $800,000, 1% on the next $9,000,000, and 0.5% on the next $15,000,000. Section 10800 sets the executor’s fee at the exact same rate. Crucially, the base is the estate’s gross value — a $1,000,000 home with a $700,000 mortgage still generates fees on the full $1,000,000.

Florida takes a softer approach. Statute §733.6171 sets a schedule that is only “presumed reasonable,” meaning it is a ceiling a court will accept, not a floor you must pay. It starts at a flat $1,500 for estates of $40,000 or less, adds tiers up to $100,000, then charges 3% on the estate value between $100,000 and $1,000,000, 2.5% from $1M to $3M, and 2% from $3M to $5M. Because it is a presumption, most Florida firms quote a flat fee well below it — commonly $3,000 to $5,000 for an uncontested administration.

$250,000

$8,000

$7,500

$500,000

$13,000

$15,000

$1,000,000

$23,000

$30,000

Calculated from statutory schedules in California Probate Code §10810/§10800 and Florida Statutes §733.6171. California figures assume both attorney and executor take the full fee; California executor commonly waives when also a beneficiary. Verify at leginfo.legislature.ca.gov and flsenate.gov.

The worked math shows why California’s model is the harshest for mid-sized estates: on that $1,000,000 estate, the combined statutory fee is $46,000 when both parties take their full share. Families who understand probate avoidance strategies and their costs often find a living trust cheaper than a single year of these fees. Note also that California adds a $435 filing fee and a probate referee appraisal of 0.1% of non-cash assets under Probate Code §8961, roughly $1,000 on a $1,000,000 estate.

Reasonable-Compensation States: What “No Schedule” Actually Costs

Most of the country — Illinois, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, and dozens of others — does not publish a probate fee percentage. Attorneys instead bill by the hour or by flat fee, and the executor petitions the court for compensation that reflects the work performed. Catalina, a structured-funding research group, reports that probate attorneys in most states charge $200 to $500 per hour, with a straightforward estate consuming 20 to 40 hours of legal work.

Flat-fee arrangements are common for uncontested estates and typically run $3,000 to $7,000, though they rarely cover disputes. That range is why a reasonable-compensation state usually costs a mid-sized estate far less than California: 30 hours at $350 comes to $10,500, versus $23,000 in statutory attorney fees alone on a $1,000,000 California estate. The trade-off is predictability — you cannot know the final hourly bill in advance, and understanding the full executor duties, fees, and time costs helps you estimate the hours realistically.

Executor pay in these states varies widely. Illinois courts have approved executor rates as low as $50 per hour depending on circumstances, per Illinois probate practitioners. Missouri and Arkansas allow executors reasonable compensation typically in the 3% to 5% range, with Arkansas following a statutory formula of 10% on the first $1,000, 5% on the next $4,000, and 3% on the remainder, as compiled in a 2025 executor-compensation survey. When a professional serves rather than a family member, the estate almost always bears this cost in full.

California vs. New York: Which Statutory State Costs More for a $1M Estate?

Both California and New York are expensive probate states, but they get there differently, and the answer flips depending on whether you count one fee or two. California pays the attorney and executor the same §10810/§10800 schedule; New York separates the attorney fee (reasonable, court-reviewed) from the executor commission set by Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act §2307.

New York’s SCPA 2307 commission runs 5% on the first $100,000, 4% on the next $200,000, 3% on the next $700,000, 2.5% on the next $4,000,000, and 2% above $5,000,000. On a $1,000,000 estate that produces exactly $34,000 for the executor. California’s executor takes $23,000 on the same estate, but the California attorney takes another $23,000 by identical formula — a combined $46,000. New York’s attorney fee is negotiated separately and is not fixed by percentage, so total cost depends heavily on the firm.

Executor / personal representative fee

$23,000 (§10800)

$34,000 (SCPA 2307)

Attorney fee (ordinary services)

$23,000 (§10810)

Negotiated / court-reviewed

Statutory fee model

Fixed percentage, both parties

Executor fixed; attorney reasonable

Executor figures calculated from California Probate Code §10800 and New York SCPA §2307. Verify at nysenate.gov. New York attorney fees are not set by statutory percentage.

Verdict

For a $1,000,000 estate where both parties take full fees, California is more expensive overall because its attorney and executor each collect $23,000 for $46,000 combined, while New York’s fixed cost is the $34,000 executor commission plus a separately negotiated attorney fee. However, in New York a single professional executor of a large estate can be more costly than in California at the executor level alone. If the executor is a family member who waives the fee, New York’s negotiable attorney fee often produces the lower total. Choose based on who will serve and whether they will waive.

What Most People Get Wrong About Probate Fees

Three misconceptions cost families thousands. Each has a specific, correctable fix.

Mistake 1: Assuming fees come off the net estate. In California and several other statutory states, the fee base is gross value — debts are not subtracted. The consequence is that a heavily mortgaged home inflates the fee dramatically: a $1,000,000 house with $700,000 owed still generates fees on $1,000,000, not the $300,000 equity. The correct action is to calculate fees on gross value and, where the mortgage is large, seriously evaluate transferring real estate outside probate before death.

Mistake 2: Paying both attorney and executor when one is a beneficiary. When an adult child serves as executor and also inherits, taking the executor fee creates taxable income on money they would otherwise receive tax-free as inheritance. The consequence is an unnecessary tax bill. The correct action is often to waive the executor commission, so on a $1,000,000 California estate only the attorney’s $23,000 applies rather than $46,000.

Mistake 3: Skipping the small-estate shortcut. Many estates qualify for simplified procedures that bypass full probate and its fees entirely. The consequence of missing this is paying full statutory or hourly fees on an estate that could have used a two-page affidavit. The correct action is to check your state’s threshold first — a small estate affidavit availability and savings can eliminate attorney and executor fees for qualifying estates. California, for example, raised its threshold and added a simplified primary-residence transfer under recent legislation.

Is Avoiding Probate Worth It? Who Should and Shouldn’t

The break-even is straightforward math. A revocable living trust costs roughly $1,500 to $4,000 to establish through an attorney. If your probate fees would exceed that, avoidance pays. In a statutory state, the threshold is low: a $500,000 California estate faces $26,000 in combined statutory fees, so a $3,000 trust returns nearly nine times its cost.

You should prioritize probate avoidance if you live in California or another gross-value statutory state, own real estate, or hold an estate above roughly $500,000. The savings scale with estate size and are largest exactly where the statutory percentages bite hardest. Owners of out-of-state property have an added reason: a second probate in the property’s state, or ancillary probate for out-of-state property, multiplies both filing and attorney costs.

Avoidance matters less if you live in a reasonable-compensation state with a modest estate, or if your assets already pass by beneficiary designation and joint ownership. A $200,000 estate that qualifies for a small-estate affidavit gains little from a trust. Timing also matters — probate duration compounds the cost, and reviewing probate duration by state and complexity alongside the fee schedule gives the full picture. Families should also weigh estate dispute and litigation costs, which can add $50,000 to $100,000 or more and dwarf every ordinary fee discussed here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do the attorney and executor always get paid separately?

Yes, they are distinct fees, though the same person occasionally serves both roles only when licensed. In California, both are entitled to the identical §10810/§10800 schedule — roughly $23,000 each on a $1,000,000 estate. In reasonable-compensation states, the attorney bills hourly ($200–$500) or flat ($3,000–$7,000) while the executor petitions the court separately. A beneficiary-executor often waives their commission to avoid income tax.

Are California probate fees really non-negotiable?

For ordinary services, yes. Under California Probate Code §10810, any agreement to pay more than the statutory fee is void, and the schedule sets the standard amount. An attorney may charge less, and flat-fee probate attorneys exist, so it is worth asking. “Extraordinary services” such as litigation or selling a business are billed separately, typically hourly, on top of the statutory fee.

Which states are cheapest for probate?

Reasonable-compensation states with low court fees are generally cheapest for mid-sized estates because attorneys bill for actual hours rather than a percentage of gross value. A $500,000 estate that takes 30 hours at $350 costs about $10,500 in attorney fees, versus $13,000 in statutory attorney fees alone in California — before the matching $13,000 executor fee. Filing fees range from roughly $45 in Ohio to $435 in California.

How We Researched This Article

Every fee figure in this article was drawn from primary statutory text or official state authorities, then cross-checked against secondary analytical sources for worked examples. California figures come directly from California Probate Code §10810 (attorney compensation), §10800 (executor compensation), §8961 (probate referee appraisal), and §70650 of the Government Code (filing fees), verified against the California Legislative Information portal. Florida figures come from Florida Statutes §733.6171, verified against the Florida Senate’s official statute database and cross-referenced with FindLaw’s statutory reproduction. New York executor commissions come from Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act §2307, verified against the New York State Senate legislation portal.

The dollar amounts in the comparison tables are original calculations: we applied each state’s published percentage schedule to $250,000, $500,000, and $1,000,000 estate values, computing tier by tier. These are modeled figures based on statutory rates, not measured averages from filed cases; an actual estate’s fee base follows each state’s specific inventory rules, and gross-versus-net treatment varies. Hourly and flat-fee ranges for reasonable-compensation states are secondary-source aggregates and represent typical markets, not guaranteed quotes.

We relied on official government publications for all statutory rates, using industry research from estate-administration firms only to contextualize and validate worked examples. Where firms disagreed on illustrative numbers, we deferred to the statutory text and recomputed. Key sources include the Florida Senate statute database, the New York State Senate legislation portal, and FindLaw’s statutory codes. Limitations: probate rules change through legislation and court rulemaking, several states revised small-estate thresholds recently, and county-level filing fees vary within states. This research was last conducted July 2026. All figures were verified against named primary sources before publication.