Probate Cost by State
Plain-English breakdowns of what probate costs in all 50 states. Each guide documents attorney fees, executor commissions, court costs, the state's small-estate threshold, and the transfers that pass outside probate — each cited to the state code.
Educational information only — not legal advice. Figures vary by state and change over time; confirm current statutes and costs with a licensed attorney in your state.
| State | Court filing fee | Fee basis | Typical duration | Fee sheet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Roughly $435 per petition. A probate case usually involves more than one filing. | Statutory | 9 to 18 months for a routine case; longer in backed-up counties. | Printable sheet |
| Texas | Approximately $300–$400 to file the application for probate, depending on county. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 months for independent administration; longer if dependent administration is required. | Printable sheet |
| Florida | Approximately $400 for formal administration; $235 for summary administration. | Reasonable / negotiated | 6 to 12 months for formal administration; a few months for summary administration. | Printable sheet |
| New York | Surrogate's Court filing fees range from $45 to $1,250 depending on the estate's value. | Statutory | 7 to 18 months for a routine case; longer for contested estates. | Printable sheet |
| Pennsylvania | Set by each county Register of Wills and tiered by estate value. Typical opening probate fees run roughly $75 to $500+, plus $5–$25 per short certificate and small charges for certified copies and will filings. Larger estates and urban counties (Philadelphia, Allegheny) sit at the higher end. | Reasonable / negotiated | 9 to 18 months for a routine, uncontested estate. Simple estates can close in 6 to 9 months; contested estates or those with complex assets often run 2+ years. The 9-month inheritance tax filing deadline and the Department of Revenue's review period effectively set a floor. | Printable sheet |
| Illinois | Court filing fees vary by county. Cook County charges approximately $479 to open a decedent's estate. Collar and downstate counties typically range from $250–$350. Additional costs: publication of notice to creditors ($150–$400), certified letters of office, and any required bond premium. | Reasonable / negotiated | A routine Illinois estate administered independently typically closes in 9 to 12 months, because final distribution generally cannot occur until the 6-month creditor claims period under 755 ILCS 5/18-3 has run. Supervised administration usually runs 12–18 months. Contested estates can take 18–36 months or longer. | Printable sheet |
| Ohio | Filing fees vary by county (each of Ohio's 88 probate courts sets its own schedule under ORC 2746.06). Opening a full administration generally runs about $100–$350; release from administration is usually less. Certified copies, publication, bond, and appraisal typically add several hundred dollars more. | Statutory | A routine, uncontested Ohio probate typically takes 6 to 12 months. The six-month creditor claim window under ORC 2117.06 sets a practical floor. Contested estates, those with real estate to sell, or estates requiring federal estate-tax returns commonly take 12–24 months or longer. | Printable sheet |
| Georgia | Set locally under O.C.G.A. §15-9-60. Petition to Probate Will in Solemn Form typically runs $150–$250 (Fulton ~$164, Cobb ~$202; larger metro counties can exceed $250). Add ~$80–$150 for the required four-week newspaper publication and ~$8.50 per certified-mail service to each heir/beneficiary. | Reasonable / negotiated | Routine, uncontested probate generally takes 8 to 18 months. The statutory creditor-claim period alone runs about 3 months after the four-week publication of notice to debtors and creditors. | Printable sheet |
| North Carolina | Under N.C.G.S. §7A-307, the clerk collects $120 to open the estate plus $0.40 per $100 (0.4%) of the gross estate for support of the General Court of Justice, capped at $6,000 maximum. Additional flat fees apply for specific filings (e.g., $20 for probate without qualification, certified copies, etc.). | Statutory | Routine, uncontested probate in North Carolina generally takes 6 to 12 months. The 90-day creditor claim window must run, the inventory is due within 90 days of qualification, and the final account is generally due within one year of qualification. Estates with real estate, contested claims, or tax issues often extend beyond a year. | Printable sheet |
| Michigan | Typical fees: ~$175 to file an application/petition to open a decedent estate, plus $12 per Letters of Authority (~$187 to open); $23 for most subsequent filings; publication of Notice to Creditors usually $100–$200; plus the MCL 600.871 inventory fee scaled to estate value. | Reasonable / negotiated | Most Michigan decedent estates close in 6 to 12 months. The 4-month creditor-claims period (after publication) sets the practical minimum. Informal/unsupervised administration under EPIC moves fastest; supervised administration or contested matters commonly run 12–24+ months. | Printable sheet |
| Connecticut | The probate court fee for settling a decedent's estate is a sliding scale under Conn. Gen. Stat. §45a-107. For decedents dying on or after July 1, 2016: $0–$500 = $25; $500–$1,000 = $50; $1,000–$10,000 = $50 plus 1% of the excess over $1,000; $10,000–$500,000 = $150 plus 0.35% of the excess over $10,000; $500,000–$2,000,000 = $1,865 plus 0.25% of the excess over $500,000; $2,000,000 and over = $5,615 plus 0.5% of the excess over $2,000,000. Maximum fee: $40,000. Interest of 0.5% per month accrues on fees unpaid after 30 days. | Statutory | A routine Connecticut estate typically takes 6 to 12 months. The statutory creditor-claim window is 150 days from appointment of the first fiduciary, the fiduciary then has 60 days to file a return and list of claims, and Connecticut estate/succession-tax clearance must be completed before final distribution — so contested or taxable estates can run a year or more. | Printable sheet |
| Arkansas | Opening a regular estate (probate of will, administration, or 'no administration') is about $165 in the circuit court probate division. A small estate affidavit filing is about $25. Fees are collected at the county level, so budget extra for certified copies and the required newspaper publication of notice to creditors (~$100–$200). | Statutory | About 9 to 14 months for a routine, uncontested estate. The binding constraint is the six-month creditor claim period, which starts on first publication of the notice to creditors; the estate generally cannot close until that period runs and valid claims are settled. Contested estates, real-estate sales, or tax issues can extend this well beyond a year. | Printable sheet |
| Indiana | Under Ind. Code §33-37-4-7, the clerk collects a probate costs fee of $120 for each action filed under the probate or trust code, plus, where applicable, a document fee, a document storage fee, and an automated record-keeping fee. Total opening costs commonly run about $150–$180 depending on county. | Reasonable / negotiated | A routine, uncontested Indiana estate using unsupervised administration typically takes about 6 to 12 months. The personal representative can file a closing statement no earlier than 3 months after the first published notice to creditors (Ind. Code §29-1-7.5-4), and the estate closes about 3 months after that if no objections are pending. Supervised, contested, or real-estate-sale estates can run a year or more. | Printable sheet |
| Oklahoma | Roughly $200 to file the probate petition (about $204 in many counties), plus newspaper publication of notice (commonly $100–$200). | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine supervised probate. Summary administration for estates under $150,000 can finish in roughly 2 to 4 months. | Printable sheet |
| Oregon | Probate petition filing fees under ORS 21.170 scale with estate value: $278 if under $50,000; $591 from $50,000 to under $1 million; $882 from $1 million to under $10 million; $1,176 at $10 million or more. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine case; Oregon probate must stay open a minimum of four months to allow for creditor claims, and complex estates can run a year or more. | Printable sheet |
| New Jersey | Probate of a will (up to 2 pages) is about $100 at the county Surrogate's Court, plus roughly $5 per extra page and small per-document charges for certificates and short-form letters. Total Surrogate costs for a simple estate are usually well under $200. | Reasonable / negotiated | Often 9 to 16 months. New Jersey's mandatory 9-month creditor window and the wait for state inheritance/estate tax waivers are the main reasons even simple estates rarely close sooner. | Printable sheet |
| Washington | About $290 to open the probate case (roughly a $200 filing fee plus county surcharges), varying slightly by county. | Reasonable / negotiated | Often 6 to 12 months. The estate must stay open at least through the 4-month creditor claim period; nonintervention powers let many estates close not long after. | Printable sheet |
| Arizona | Roughly $300 to open an informal probate in the Superior Court (about $306 in Maricopa County); amounts vary slightly by county. Add publication of notice to creditors and certified copies. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 5 to 12 months for a routine informal probate. The four-month creditor-claim window sets the practical floor; the estate must stay open at least five months before it can close. | Printable sheet |
| Colorado | $199 to open an informal (or formal) probate in the district court, statewide. Add publication of notice to creditors and certified copies (Letters Testamentary). | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine informal probate. The estate must remain open at least the statutory minimum, and the creditor-claim period sets the practical floor before final distribution. | Printable sheet |
| Massachusetts | The total filing fee to open an informal probate is about $390 (a $375 petition fee plus a $15 surcharge to assign a docket number), per the Probate and Family Court schedule. Certified copies, citation publication, and a surety bond (if required) add modest extra costs. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 9 to 18 months for a routine informal estate. The practical floor is the one-year creditor period: under M.G.L. c. 190B, §3-803, a personal representative generally isn't liable to a creditor unless the action is brought within one year of the date of death, so most representatives wait out that year before final distribution. | Printable sheet |
| Maryland | The Register of Wills charges a probate fee on a sliding scale tied to the value of the regular estate (deaths/estates opened on or after Oct. 1, 2022): $50 up to $10,000; $100 for $10,000–$20,000; $150 for $20,000–$50,000; $200 for $50,000–$75,000; $300 for $75,000–$100,000; $400 for $100,000–$250,000; $500 for $250,000–$500,000; $750 for $500,000–$750,000; $1,000 for $750,000–$1,000,000; $1,500 for $1,000,000–$2,000,000; $2,500 for $2,000,000–$5,000,000; and $2,500 plus 0.02% of the excess over $5,000,000. No probate fee is due on a small estate. | Statutory | About 9 to 18 months for a routine regular estate. The binding constraint is the six-month creditor claim period; the estate generally cannot close until that period runs and valid claims are resolved. Modified administration (when available) is faster, and contested estates run longer. | Printable sheet |
| Minnesota | Approximately $310 to file the first paper in district court, plus a small county law library surcharge — total court filing costs generally land in the $300 to $400 range depending on the county. | Reasonable / negotiated | Roughly 6 to 12 months for a routine informal probate; simple estates can close in about 4 to 6 months. The four-month creditor period is the main timing constraint. | Printable sheet |
| Missouri | Filing fees vary by county but are modest — commonly around $150 to $200 to open the estate (for example, roughly $155 for an intestate and $190 for a testate estate in some counties), plus newspaper publication costs of about $150 to $200. | Statutory | Roughly 9 to 15 months for a routine estate; the law requires a minimum six-month creditor claim period that cannot be shortened, so a full estate almost never closes faster than about six to nine months. | Printable sheet |
| Alabama | Varies by county; typically a few hundred dollars to open the estate, plus per-document and certification charges. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine uncontested estate; the 6-month creditor claim window sets the practical floor. | Printable sheet |
| Alaska | A modest filing fee (roughly $75-$150) to open the case, plus per-document and certified-copy charges. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine uncontested estate; the 4-month creditor claim window sets the practical floor. | Printable sheet |
| Delaware | Register of Wills probate fees are set by each county (New Castle, Kent, Sussex) and scale modestly with estate size — roughly $100 to $350 for most estates, plus small per-page and short-certificate fees. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 8 to 12 months for a routine estate; the 8-month creditor window sets the practical floor. | Printable sheet |
| Hawaii | The base probate filing fee in the Circuit Court is about $100 (HRS § 607-5.5), plus newspaper publication of the notice to creditors (commonly $150–$300). | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine, uncontested estate; the 4-month creditor window after publication sets the practical floor. | Printable sheet |
| Idaho | Approximately $166 to file the probate petition in district court, plus small per-document and certification costs. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine uncontested estate; a case generally stays open at least 6 months so the creditor period can run. | Printable sheet |
| Iowa | Filing and clerk's court costs generally run a few hundred dollars; Iowa also assesses court costs tied to the size of the estate. | Statutory | About 6 to 12 months for a routine estate, and longer where inheritance-tax clearance or contested claims are involved. | Printable sheet |
| Kansas | Approximately $200 to file the petition, depending on the county. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine estate; simplified 'informal' administration can move faster. | Printable sheet |
| Kentucky | Roughly $40 to $60 in most counties to open the estate in district court; a few urban counties are higher (Jefferson County runs closer to $85–$135). | Reasonable / negotiated | About 9 to 18 months; Kentucky keeps the estate open at least six months so creditors can file claims. | Printable sheet |
| Louisiana | Roughly $250 to $450 in most parishes; some parishes charge a reduced rate for small successions (Orleans Parish, for example, has charged about $248 for estates of $125,000 or less). | Reasonable / negotiated | About 3 to 6 months for a simple, uncontested succession; longer if a full administration or property dispute is involved. | Printable sheet |
| Maine | A sliding scale tied to estate value — roughly $20 for the smallest estates up to about $950 or more for estates over $2 million, set by the Maine probate courts. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 9 to 12 months for a routine informal-probate estate; the estate stays open through the creditor-claim period. | Printable sheet |
| Mississippi | Roughly $150 to $300 to open an estate in chancery court, depending on the county, plus separate newspaper publication costs for the notice to creditors. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine uncontested estate; the mandatory 90-day creditor window and court supervision set the floor. | Printable sheet |
| Montana | Approximately $90 to $120 to open probate in district court, depending on the county. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine informal case; the four-month creditor window sets the practical floor. | Printable sheet |
| Nebraska | Approximately $45 to $85 to file in county court, depending on the county. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine case; Nebraska's unusually short two-month creditor window can move things along faster than in most states. | Printable sheet |
| Nevada | Roughly $200 to $600 to open probate, tiered by estate value and county (Clark and Washoe counties handle most cases). | Statutory | About 6 to 12 months for a routine case; the 90-day creditor period sets the floor, and set-aside or summary administration can be faster. | Printable sheet |
| New Hampshire | Tiered by the value of the estate, roughly $90 to $265 to open the case in the circuit court probate division. | Reasonable / negotiated | At least 6 months, because the creditor period runs six months from appointment; routine estates typically close in about 9 to 12 months. | Printable sheet |
| New Mexico | About $30 to file informal probate in the county Probate Court; roughly $132 to open a formal case in District Court. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 months for a routine informal case, since the estate stays open through the creditor-claim period. | Printable sheet |
| North Dakota | Approximately $80 to open a probate case in district court. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 months to a year, since the estate must stay open through the 3-month creditor-claim period. | Printable sheet |
| Rhode Island | The probate filing fee is 1% of the personal-property value of the estate, with a $30 minimum and a $1,500 maximum cap. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 8 to 14 months, driven largely by the six-month creditor claim period. | Printable sheet |
| South Carolina | A sliding-scale filing fee under §8-21-770: about $45 on a $20,000 estate; $95 plus 0.15% of the excess over $100,000 up to $600,000 (about $695 on a $500,000 estate); then 0.25% of any value above $600,000. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 8 to 12 months, largely because creditors have eight months to file claims. | Printable sheet |
| South Dakota | A modest circuit-court filing fee to open the estate, commonly under about $250; confirm the current amount with the local clerk of courts. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine informal probate. | Printable sheet |
| Tennessee | Roughly $200–$450 to open the estate, varying by county (paid to the probate or chancery court clerk), plus a newspaper publication fee for the notice to creditors. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine, uncontested estate; the four-month creditor-claim period sets the practical floor. | Printable sheet |
| Utah | Approximately $375 to open a probate case in Utah district court (set by the Judicial Council fee schedule), plus a small newspaper charge to publish the notice to creditors. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 4 to 12 months for a routine informal probate; the estate generally cannot close until the 3-month creditor claim period has run. | Printable sheet |
| Vermont | Set by 32 V.S.A. § 1434 and scaled to estate value — roughly $45 for the smallest estates up to about $225 for estates over $100,000; small-estate filings run about $50 to $110. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine uncontested estate; the mandatory 4-month creditor period sets the practical floor. | Printable sheet |
| Virginia | A state probate tax of $0.10 per $100 of estate value (Va. Code §58.1-1712), plus an optional local probate tax of up to one-third of the state tax (about $0.0333 per $100). No probate tax is due on estates of $15,000 or less. Add modest clerk recording fees. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 8 to 12 months for a routine estate; often a year or more, because creditors generally have up to a year from death to file claims. | Printable sheet |
| West Virginia | County fiduciary fees are tiered under W.Va. Code §44-3A-42: about $25 for estates of $10,000 or less, $100 for $10,000–$50,000, and $175 for estates over $50,000, plus recording fees. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for a routine estate; short-form settlement is possible once the 60-day creditor and 4-month waiting periods pass. | Printable sheet |
| Wisconsin | Register-in-probate fee of 0.2% of the estate value (net of liens) under Wis. Stat. §814.66(1)(a); $20 if the estate is $10,000 or less. On a $300,000 estate this is about $600. | Reasonable / negotiated | About 6 to 12 months for informal administration, which generally must be closed within 18 months of appointment. | Printable sheet |
| Wyoming | A modest district-court filing fee (roughly $50–$100), plus the cost of publishing the notice to creditors. | Statutory | About 6 to 12 months for full probate; a summary distribution can close in a couple of months. | Printable sheet |
All 50 states are listed above. Probate cost is the sum of separately-set components — attorney fees, executor commissions, court filing fees and appraisal costs — each cited on the state's page.
Want to understand probate first?
If you’re new to probate, start with our main explainer — it covers the whole process step by step before you dive into state-specific costs:
- What Is Probate and How Does It Work?
- How Long Does Probate Take by State (companion guide)
- Estate Planning Checklist — the documents and decisions that make probate easier
Educational information only — not legal advice. Always confirm current statutes and figures with a licensed attorney in your state.