What Does Probate Cost in California?

Probate is a very expensive endeavor. To give you an idea:

Cost to open the estate or file for probate in the first instance is based on the value of the gross estate. So, say, the estate contains a home that is worth about $500,000 and a checking account with $15,000 cash.

According to the 2006 Fee Schedule of the Los Angeles County Superior Court:

1. Estate or Trust of at least $500,000 and under $750,000 -- the cost to file is $485.00.

Next, you will have to file a notice of publication in the legal notices section of the local newspaper where the decedent died.

2. Cost to run legal notice depends on the area, but runs between $350.00 to $500.00.

Then if there are real property or other non-cash assets in the estate, it will need to be appraised by a court-appointed probate referee.  The probate referee ordinarily charges 1/10 of 1% of the appraised value in each case.

3. Cost for real property appraisal by the probate referee -- $500.00.

If the estate requires the executor or administrator post a bond then obtaining such a probate bond can be costly.

4. A probate bond for this estate would be around $700.00 a year. (This is a guesstimate on my part based on my dealings with probate bonds for my clients).

5. What about the costs of paying the mortgage, property taxes and homeowner's insurance for the real property? Those need to be paid as well.

Attorney fees are also based on the value of the gross estate.  The fee is calculated based on a statutory formula. The fees are 4%t 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.

6. Attorney fees will be around $13,000.

What about the fee for the executor or administrator? They can elect to the same fee based on the same rate as attorney fees are calculated.

7. Executor or administrator fees would also be around $13,000.

And this is not the end. Costs can go higher. Of course, it can be less too depending on the circumstances.

Adding the red numbers comes to:
$485.00 + $350.00 + $500.00 + $700.00 +$13,000 + $13,000 = $28,035

When I probated my father's estate, I paid over $16,000 in costs and fees. Ouch. 

Paying costs and fees in these number ranges is not good when it can be avoided by proper estate planning.

Comments

[Leanna Hamill]

Wow, those fees are quite high compared to Massachusetts. Here the filing fees are $230.00 regardless of the value of the esate, legal publication fees are between $30.00-$150.00 depending on where the notice needs to be published, and estates are usually billed hourly by the attorney - there are no statutory fees in Massachusetts. It definately seems to make sense to plan to avoid Probate in California.

[Jennifer Sawday]

Leanna,

Probate in California is very expensive compared to most states. Indeed in many states, a living trust is not recommended because probate can be completed in a reasonable time and is not costly. But here, a living trust for real property can go a long way in avoiding costly probate proceedings.

[Nathan]

I was named executor of a relative's will. He was a resident of CA, but I am not. In his will he requested that there be no bond on his estate. I am being told that because I am not a CA resident a bond is automatically required. Is this true? Is there a % of the estate value used to determine the bond amount? Should I put up the bond with my personal money or use a bond company?

Thanks