PROBATE

California law provides a statutory fee schedule for ordinary services performed by the attorney for the personal representative. A corresponding statutory compensation schedule applies to the personal representative.

For a $3,000,000 estate, the calculation for each is:

That means:

Potential statutory attorney compensation: $43,000

Potential statutory personal representative compensation: $43,000

Potential Combined Statutory Compensation: $86,000

California courts explain that both the personal representative and the attorney for the personal representative may receive statutory compensation for ordinary probate services.

No.

The $86,000 figure represents the potential combined statutory compensation for ordinary services when both the attorney and personal representative receive the full statutory amount on a $3 million fee base.

Actual probate costs depend on the estate and circumstances.

There can also be additional expenses, including:

• Court filing fees
• Probate referee/appraisal fees
• Publication expenses
• Certified copies and other court expenses
• Surety bond premiums when required
• Accounting or tax-related professional fees
• Property-related expenses
• Additional attorney or personal-representative compensation for extraordinary services when approved by the court
• Litigation expenses if the estate becomes contested

California Courts notes that probate involves filing, publication, appraisal and other administration expenses in addition to compensation for administering the estate.

Probate Costs Can Be Higher Than the Statutory Compensation

A California Superior Court estimates that when appraisal costs, executor compensation, filing costs, bonds, legal and accounting fees and other expenses are considered, probate can cost approximately 4% to 7% of an estate’s value—and sometimes more.

On a $3 million estate, even a small percentage represents a substantial amount of family wealth.

That is one reason planning before probate becomes necessary can be so important.

This is an important issue for California homeowners.

Statutory compensation is generally based on the appraised value of estate property, rather than simply the owner’s net equity.

Consider a simplified example:

A Marin homeowner dies owning a home appraised at $2.5 million with a $1 million mortgage.
The homeowner’s equity may be approximately $1.5 million, but the probate fee calculation may still use the property’s appraised value rather than subtracting the mortgage from the value used to calculate statutory compensation.

For homeowners in areas with high real estate values, that distinction can make a significant difference.

A properly created and funded revocable Living Trust can generally allow assets owned by the trust to pass to beneficiaries outside formal probate.

That does not mean administering a trust is free. A successor trustee may incur legal, accounting, tax, property-management and other expenses when administering a trust.

But avoiding formal probate can eliminate many of the expenses and procedural requirements associated specifically with the probate court process.

The critical word is funded.

Creating a trust document isn’t enough by itself. Assets intended to pass through the trust generally need to be properly transferred into or otherwise coordinated with the trust.

For real estate, this commonly involves transferring title by an appropriate deed.

A Will alone does not avoid probate.

A will provides instructions concerning the disposition of property and can nominate the person you want to serve as executor, but assets passing under a will may still be subject to probate.

This is one of the most common misunderstandings in estate planning.

Someone can have a professionally prepared will and still leave their family with a substantial probate proceeding.

No. Not Every California Estate Requires Formal Probate

California provides simplified procedures for certain estates and certain types of property.

For deaths occurring on or after April 1, 2025, for example, California has a procedure that may apply to a decedent’s primary California residence valued at up to $750,000, provided the statutory requirements are satisfied. Other simplified procedures and monetary limits may also apply.

A $3 million gross estate therefore does not automatically mean every dollar or every asset will necessarily be subject to formal probate.

How property is titled, beneficiary designations, joint ownership, trust ownership and the nature of the assets all matter.

For many Marin County families, reaching a multimillion-dollar estate value doesn’t necessarily mean having millions of dollars sitting in cash.

A substantial portion of the family’s wealth may simply be the value of a home purchased many years ago.

That makes estate planning particularly important in communities with high property values.

A better question is: “What would happen to my property and my family if I died with the estate plan I have today?”

Compare $86,000 in Potential Statutory Compensation With Planning Today

For a hypothetical $3 million California probate estate:

Probate

Attorney statutory compensation: $43,000

Personal representative statutory compensation: $43,000

Potential combined statutory compensation: $86,000

Plus applicable probate costs and expenses