Attorney Fees Payable In Probate

Attorney fees are regulated by the State of California for Probate matters. But the regulation of fees does not mean that they are cheap. Probate code sections 10800 through 10801 state the compensation for an attorney.

The Court shall award (without discretion of the Judge) Four percent of the first $100,000 dollars. This equates to a fee of $4,000, even if your estate is small.

If your estate is worth $200,000, the fees continue to grow as the estate has greater value. The second One-Hundred Thousand must pay an additional $3,000 in fees or $7,000 total.

If your estate is worth between $200,000 and One Million, Dollars, you must pay one percent of that amount over the $200,000. Therefore assuming you own a home and it is worth $700,000 and you own a couple of cars, and a stock and retirement account totaling another $300,000, your probate fees will be $15,000. This is far more than the cost of a trust by more than triple!

And check out this provision if you have a mortgage. Section (b) of the above statutes does not count the net value of the home for fee calculations. Therefore even if you own a home worth $600,000 and have a mortgage of $550,000, your fee for attorney work in probate is based on the “Appraisal Value” of the home, not the net value of the home. There is no reduction for encumbrances or other obligations. So the attorney fee on a house in probate alone with a value of $600,000 is $11,000, again far in excess of a cost of a trust.

Are you still not convinced that probate is a great way for lawyers to get paid at your expense? Probate Code section 10801, allows the lawyer to ask the Court for more fees! That’s right, more fees. If they have to sell the house, hire an accountant, hire tax experts or probate any other property, contest or argue about a will or notice and depose people on the meaning of any terms in your will, the attorney can ask for more fees

You can avoid all these fees if you elect to create a trust. Call us for a free consultation at 1 (888) 752-7474 or Contact Us online.