Probate fees in California are statutory. Four percent of the first hundred thousand, three percent of the next hundred, two percent of the next eight hundred, one percent above that. The part people miss: it is calculated on gross value at date of death, not on your equity. A heavily mortgaged house is billed at full market value.
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So what are the fees? It is long, and it is expensive, and you cannot negotiate it. It is a statutory-based amount that attorneys and representatives will receive for administering the probate. And it's a scaled number, from the first hundred thousand of your estate.
And the estate is valued by the gross value. Not minus mortgage, not equity. It's the gross, whatever is the market value at the time of death. That's how we count the estate.
So the first $100,000, 4 percent. The next $100,000, 3 percent. The next $800,000, 2 percent. And 1 percent thereon. And remember, these are the probate fees in Probate Code Section 10810 and others related. You can fight it. You can negotiate sometimes with an attorney, but it usually doesn't work. It is the judge. Whatever the judge says.
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