How much does probate cost?
The short answer
Probate commonly costs a family between $8,000 and $25,000 and takes several months to more than a year. The bill is driven by attorney fees, court filing fees, executor compensation, appraisals, and bond premiums — and in most states it scales with the gross value of the estate, not what the family actually inherits.
Reviewed by Curtis Olsen, Sword & Shield Planning — updated August 8, 2026
Key facts
- Typical all-in range for a straightforward estate: $8,000–$25,000.
- Timeline: commonly 6–18 months before heirs receive anything.
- Fees are usually calculated on gross estate value, before mortgages and debts are subtracted.
- Real estate in a second state can trigger a second, separate probate.
- A fully funded revocable living trust avoids probate entirely.
What you are actually paying for
Probate is not one fee. It is a stack of them, and each one is charged whether or not the estate is contested.
- Attorney fees — the largest line item. In some states these are set by statute as a percentage of the gross estate; in others they are hourly.
- Court filing and certification fees — several hundred dollars, paid at multiple stages.
- Executor or personal representative compensation — often mirrors the attorney fee schedule, though a family member may waive it.
- Appraisal and valuation costs — required for real estate, businesses, and unusual assets.
- Probate bond premiums — an insurance policy the court may require of the executor.
- Publication and notice costs — legally required newspaper notices to creditors.
Why the percentage matters more than the dollar amount
The most misunderstood part of probate cost is the base it is calculated on. Statutory fee states compute fees on the gross value of the estate — before mortgages, loans, or other debts are subtracted.
A $600,000 house with a $450,000 mortgage is a $150,000 asset to the family. To the probate fee schedule, it is a $600,000 asset. The family pays fees on money they do not have.
What makes probate cost more
- Real estate in more than one state — each state opens its own proceeding, with its own attorney and its own fees.
- A will contest or a disgruntled heir — litigation can add tens of thousands and years.
- A business interest that must be valued and either operated or sold during the proceeding.
- Missing, outdated, or contradictory documents that force the court to interpret intent.
- Assets nobody can find, because there was no organized inventory.
The cost nobody puts on the invoice
Probate is public. The inventory of what was owned, what it was worth, and who received it becomes a searchable court record that anyone — neighbors, competitors, and people who target the recently bereaved — can read.
It is also slow. Heirs who need money for a mortgage payment, tuition, or funeral expenses generally wait until the court permits distribution.
How to avoid it
A revocable living trust that has actually been funded avoids probate, because assets titled in the trust are not part of the probate estate. There is nothing for the court to administer.
The word doing the work in that sentence is funded. A signed trust with nothing retitled into it protects nothing — the assets are still in your individual name, and they still go through probate. Funding is the single step where most do-it-yourself plans fail.
A complete plan is a flat, predictable cost paid once, while probate is an open-ended cost paid by your family at the worst possible time.
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