STATUTORY PROBATE ATTORNEY'S FEE AND EXECUTOR'S COMMISSION
In California, the law sets the fee that an attorney can charge for ordinary legal services considered necessary to administer a Probate estate. (See California Probate Code Section 10810) Such fees are the "statutory attorney's fee". To calculate the statutory attorney fee the value of the Probate estate is the basis for calculation as follows:
- Four percent on the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000),
- Three percent on the next one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000),
- Two percent on the next eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000),
- One percent on the next nine million dollars ($9,000,000),
- One-half of 1 percent on the next fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000),
- The court decides what is reasonable for amounts above twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000).
As well as statutory fees, the court may need or the client may seek additional legal services involving administration of the estate, known as extraordinary services. On court approval, the attorney may collect added fees for extraordinary services. Click here to see what it costs to avoid probate and establish a Living Trust.
Also, the fees that an Executor or Administrator may collect in a probate estate for ordinary services are fixed by law, and based on the value of the estate. The Executor's statutory "commission" is the same as the statutory attorney's fee.
Prior court order is necessary for the Attorney's fee and Executor's commission in a probate estate. Typically the courts award fees at the close of the probate estate. However, if unusual circumstances delay administering the estate, the court may allow the attorney and the Executor to collect fees on account before the close of the estate.
PROBATE COSTS
As the case progresses, the client is responsible to pay costs (which are separate from the attorney's fees). In my practice I take an advance deposit from the client to cover all the expected costs before I start the case. If the client pays in advance for the costs out of their personal funds, they can be reimbursed for their advancement through the estate. Costs may include: court's filing fees, costs for certified copies of court documents, publication costs, costs of mailing or serving notices, bond premiums, and other varying costs.
PROBATE FILING FEES
California Government Code Section 70650(a) et. seq. sets the filing fees for a court Petition for Probate or Petition to Administer Estate.
The California Appellate Court has recently ruled the graduated filing fees passed in 2006 violate the California Constitution. The filing fee in all probate cases is $320.00 - See Estate of Claeyssens (2008), 161 Cal.App.4th 465
OTHER COSTS AND EXPENSES OF ADMINISTRATION
There are many out-of-pocket expenses due before the close of a decedent's estate. Depending on whether it is a probate or non-probate case, these expenses vary from case to case. These expenses may include expenses for decedent's funeral and burial, debts, unpaid taxes, insurance, accountant's fees, financial adviser fees, bookkeeping fees, and many other expenses too many to list here.
