California Probate Fees 2026: Statutory Fee Table by Estate Value

The schedule, and the value it runs on

Most explanations of California probate fees give the percentages and stop. The statute has two more parts that decide the dollar amount: who is paid, and on what value.

Two people are paid, not one. Section 10810(a) sets the attorney’s compensation for ordinary services. Section 10800(a) sets the personal representative’s compensation with the same six steps. The California Rules of Court add that there is “one statutory commission for ordinary services by the personal representative of the estate and one statutory attorney fee for ordinary legal services to the personal representative, regardless of the number of personal representatives or attorneys” (rule 7.704(a)), so naming two co-executors does not double the executor’s fee; the court may split one commission among them.

The last column is our arithmetic on the statutory rates.

The base is the inventory, with income and sale results added. Section 10810(b): “the value of the estate accounted for by the personal representative is the total amount of the appraisal of property in the inventory, plus gains over the appraisal value on sales, plus receipts, less losses from the appraisal value on sales, without reference to encumbrances or other obligations on estate property.” Three consequences follow from the words:

• Only inventory property counts. The personal representative files an inventory of “property to be administered in the decedent’s estate” within four months after letters first issue (section 8800(a), (b)). A house still titled in the decedent’s name at death is in it. In our reading, an asset that was already outside the estate (for example held in a living trust the decedent funded) is not in the inventory and so is not in the fee base; that is also why the small-estate statute lists revocable-trust property as excluded from its own count (13050(a)(1)).
• Rent and sale gains enlarge the base. A rental that earns income while the estate is open, or sells above its appraisal, pushes the base above the date-of-death appraisal (worked example below).
• Debt does not shrink it. “Without reference to encumbrances” is the sentence that turns a $600,000 equity into a $1,500,000 base.

Fee table by estate value

Each row applies the statutory tiers to the value in the first column (our arithmetic). “Both fees” assumes one attorney and one personal representative each taking the full statutory amount for ordinary services; a personal representative may be a family member who takes less, and nothing below includes extraordinary fees, court costs or the referee’s expenses.

The referee column is the upper case. Section 8961(a) sets the commission at “one-tenth of one percent of the total value of the property for each estate appraised,” computed excluding property the personal representative appraises directly (section 8901) or an independent expert appraises (8904), so an estate full of cash and securities pays less. Section 8963(a) sets the commission at no less than $75 and no more than $10,000 “for any estate appraised,” and 8963(b) lets the court allow more on the referee’s application. The referee is also entitled to actual and necessary expenses (8961(b)); we did not find a schedule for those.

The per-dollar cost is front-loaded. In our arithmetic, the first $200,000 of an estate carries 3.5 percent per fee on average ($7,000 on $200,000); the next $800,000 adds 2 percent; each dollar after $1,000,000 adds 1 percent until $10,000,000. That is why a $750,000 estate pays 4.80 percent for both fees but a $5,000,000 estate pays 2.52 percent.

Gross, not equity: two worked examples

A house with a mortgage (hypothetical numbers). A decedent’s only probate asset is a house appraised in the inventory at $1,500,000 with a $900,000 mortgage. The base under 10810(b) is $1,500,000: $4,000 plus $3,000 plus $16,000 on the first $1,000,000, plus 1 percent of the next $500,000 ($5,000), is $28,000 for each fee and $56,000 for both (our arithmetic). The heirs’ equity is $600,000, so the two statutory fees are 9.33 percent of equity. If the base were the $600,000 equity, which is not what the statute says, each fee would be $15,000 and both $30,000, a $26,000 difference (our arithmetic). The same house in the same family, but titled so that it never enters the inventory, has no 10800 or 10810 fee at all; the other costs of that route are in our pages on the revocable living trust and the California transfer on death deed.

A rental that earns and sells (hypothetical numbers). A rental is appraised at $1,200,000, the estate collects $36,000 of rent while it is open, and the property sells for $1,250,000, a $50,000 gain over the appraisal. The base is $1,200,000 plus $50,000 plus $36,000, or $1,286,000. Each statutory fee is $23,000 on the first $1,000,000 plus 1 percent of $286,000 ($2,860), $25,860, and both are $51,720 (our arithmetic). That is before any extraordinary fee for the sale, covered next.

When the bill is more than the schedule

The statutory amounts pay for “ordinary services.” Three other things change the total.

• Extraordinary services. The court “may allow additional compensation for extraordinary services” to the personal representative “in an amount the court determines is just and reasonable” (10801(a)) and, in nearly the same words, to the attorney (10811(a)). Rule 7.703(b) gives a non-exclusive list for the executor that starts with “Selling, leasing, exchanging, financing, or foreclosing real or personal property” and includes preparing tax returns and handling tax audits or litigation. Rule 7.703(c) gives a list for the attorney that starts with “Legal services in connection with the sale of property held in the estate” and includes litigation to benefit the estate, defending a will contest and locating estate assets. For an estate whose main asset is a house or a rental that must be sold, the statute and the rule together make a sale-related extra fee a normal request rather than an edge case (our reading). The court “may consider the amount of statutory compensation when determining compensation for extraordinary services” (rule 7.703(a)).
• How an extra fee is asked for. A petition must show, among other things, the nature and difficulty of the tasks, the results achieved, “the hourly rate of each person who performed services and the hours spent by each of them,” and the estimated statutory compensation (rule 7.702). An attorney may take extraordinary work on a contingent fee only with a written agreement that complies with Business and Professions Code section 6147 and that the court approves after a noticed hearing (10811(c); rule 7.703(d)).
• What cannot be agreed. “An agreement between the personal representative and the attorney for higher compensation for the attorney than that provided by this part is void” (10813). If the will itself fixes compensation, that is “the full and only compensation” unless the court relieves the representative or the attorney on petition (10802(a), (b); 10812(a), (b)).

When fees are paid. The statutory fee is not due at the start. After four months from issuance of letters, either can petition for an allowance on account of services rendered (10830(a)); at the final account and petition for distribution the court fixes the compensation for all services and credits what was already paid (10831). The court can also allow extraordinary compensation before final distribution when the estate will last unusually long or present payment benefits the estate (10832).

How long it takes: the statutory markers

Searches such as “how long does probate take in California” want one number. The Probate Code does not give one; it gives markers. We list them as written and do not turn them into a typical duration, because none of the sources we saved gives a statistic on time to close.

The step before letters, the hearing on the petition for probate, has its own notice rules that we did not read for this page, so the clock from death to letters is not in the table. Because section 12200 requires a petition for final distribution “or” a status report by the one-year mark, the one-year marker is when the court expects to hear what is left, not a deadline that an estate with a sale or a dispute must meet (our reading). A home sale that is delayed also keeps the estate open and, by the receipts rule above, keeps adding rent to the fee base. Our probate and real estate page covers creditor periods and who can sign a sale in 15 jurisdictions.

The small-estate threshold in 2026

The small-estate limits decide whether the fee schedule applies at all. The statutes state a base figure and add “as adjusted periodically in accordance with Section 890,” so the number in the statute text is not the number in force. The Judicial Council’s table lists the adjusted amounts, which it says were adjusted “on April 1, 2022, and April 1, 2025,” and “will next be adjusted on April 1, 2028” unless a statute says otherwise. In 2025 Assembly Bill 2016 (Stats. 2024, ch. 331) “preempted” the scheduled adjustment of the real-property petition by setting $750,000 and “limiting the use of the procedure to the decedent’s primary residence in California” (Judicial Council).

Four points the figure alone hides, each from the statute text:

• $208,850 counts real property too. Section 13100 applies “if the gross value of the decedent’s real and personal property in this state does not exceed” the limit, excluding the section 13050 property and “any property included in a petition filed under Section 13151.” A house worth more than $208,850 therefore uses up the affidavit unless the house is covered by a section 13151 petition or is outside the count under 13050. This is why “the California probate threshold is $208,850” is accurate for the bank-account affidavit and misleading for a house (our reading).
• What 13050 leaves out. Property held “as a joint tenant,” “property in a trust revocable by the decedent during the decedent’s lifetime,” registered vehicles and vessels, mobilehomes, and certain multiple-party accounts are excluded in determining the property or its value (13050(a), (b)). That is why a funded revocable trust, a joint account or a payable-on-death account does not count against $208,850.
• $750,000 is for one home. Section 13151(a) covers “real property that was their primary residence in this state.” A rental, a second home or land is outside it. A rental above $69,625 is outside section 13200, so it generally needs full administration or a way around it (our reading of the three sections together).
• The affidavit does not move title to real property. Section 13100 lists money, tangible personal property and evidence of a debt, obligation or security. Title to a house moves by the section 13151 order, the section 13200 affidavit or administration.

What these routes do to the fee. The 10800 and 10810 schedule pays a personal representative and an attorney for one. The sections 13100 and 13151 routes proceed “without procuring letters of administration,” so in our reading the schedule is not the fee for them; what a lawyer charges to prepare a section 13151 petition is not set by the sections we read. Section 13151 does require an appraisal by a probate referee, which is where, in our reading, the 0.1 percent commission in the table above applies, with a $75 minimum. For a $750,000 home that is in our arithmetic $750 (before the referee’s expenses), against $36,000 of statutory fees for the same $750,000 in full administration. The Judicial Council table also lists $20,875 for section 13050(c) and for sections 13600 and 13601, and $107,900 for sections 6602 and 6609, which this page does not use.

What a reader can do with this

These are decision points the documents raise, not instructions.

• Find the base before the percentage. Add what would be in the inventory in the decedent’s name at death: the house at appraisal (not equity), accounts without a beneficiary or co-owner, and rent or gains expected during administration.
• Compare the fee to what avoiding it costs. At $1,000,000 the two statutory fees are $46,000 (our arithmetic); a deed into a trust or a transfer on death deed has its own cost and rules, and we did not find a primary source for what California lawyers charge for either, so we do not put a number on them. See the trust comparison and the California transfer on death deed page, which notes the deed’s 2032 sunset and property tax rules.
• Check which small-estate route the numbers allow. Primary residence at or under $750,000 (section 13151), other real property at or under $69,625 (section 13200), and an affidavit for everything else only if the total, with the house excluded when it is in a 13151 petition, stays at or under $208,850. Dates of death matter: the limits are those in effect on the date of death.
• Ask who pays what and when. The personal representative can ask for an allowance after four months (10830); the final order credits what was paid (10831). Extraordinary requests need a petition with hours and rates (rule 7.702).
• If the estate holds a non-traded REIT or BDC, the inventory needs a value for it and the vehicle’s own death rules apply: see non-traded REITs and BDCs after death. Inherited property also gets a new tax basis; see step-up in basis.
• Probate and title questions need a probate attorney licensed in California. The court filings, deeds and title insurance depend on facts and local forms that no web page can supply. A match with a fee-only or fee-based financial adviser is for the money side: the sale proceeds, the basis and the tax return.

This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.

FAQ

Sources, read and saved on October 22, 2026: California Probate Code sections 8800, 8961, 8963, 9100, 10800, 10801, 10802, 10810, 10811, 10812, 10813, 10830, 10831, 10832, 12200, 12250, 13050, 13100, 13101, 13151, 13152, 13154 and 13200 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov); California Rules of Court 7.702, 7.703 and 7.704 (courts.ca.gov); Judicial Council of California, “Maximum Amounts for Determining Eligibility for Summary Succession Procedures” (Probate Code section 890 adjusted amounts, courts.ca.gov). The fee table, shares and worked examples are our arithmetic on the statutory rates. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.