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The fee paid an executor or administrator and an attorney for probate in California is set by law and is a percentage of the estate. Either party can waive all or a portion of the fixed or statutory fee and take a smaller amount.
The fee is computed on a fee base. This fee base is the value of the inventory filed for the estate assets, income that has come in during the period of probate, and any capital gains on the sale of estate assets less any capital losses on the sale of any estate assets. If an accounting is waived, the fee base is only the inventory value. Liabilities are not taken into account in computing this fee.
The fee base is then applied to a percentage fee structure, as follows:
| Percentage | Fee | Cumulative Fee |
|---|---|---|
| 4% of the first $ 100,000 | $ 4,000 | $ 4,000 |
| 3% of the next 100,000 | 3,000 | 7,000 |
| 2% of the next 800,000 | 16,000 | 23,000 |
| 1% of the next 9,000,000 | 90,000 | 113,000 |
| 1/2 of 1% of the next 15,000,000 | 75,000 | 188,000 |
The court determines the amount of the fee for the excess over $25,000,000 of value. The fee paid each to the executor or administrator and to the attorney are as follows for various estates:
| Size of estate | Statutory fee |
|---|---|
| $ 100,000 | $ 4,000 |
| $ 200,000 | $ 7,000 |
| $ 300,000 | $ 9,000 |
| $ 400,000 | $ 11,000 |
| $ 500,000 | $ 13,000 |
| $ 600,000 | $ 15,000 |
| $ 700,000 | $ 17,000 |
| $ 800,000 | $ 19,000 |
| $ 900,000 | $ 21,000 |
| $ 1,000,000 | $ 23,000 |
| $ 1,250,000 | $ 25,500 |
| $ 1,500,000 | $ 28,000 |
| $ 1,750,000 | $ 30,500 |
| $ 2,000,000 | $ 33,000 |
| $ 3,000,000 | $ 43,000 |
| $ 4,000,000 | $ 53,000 |
| $ 5,000,000 | $ 63,000 |
| $ 6,000,000 | $ 73,000 |
| $ 7,000,000 | $ 83,000 |
| $ 8,000,000 | $ 93,000 |
| $ 9,000,000 | $ 103,000 |
| $ 10,000,000 | $ 113,000 |
This "statutory" fee is the same for the executor or the administrator and for the attorney. If the fee base is $300,000, the statutory fee is $9,000 for the executor and $9,000 for the attorney.
In addition, either the executor or administrator or the attorney, or both the attorney and executor or administrator, may request extraordinary fees for services above these amounts. Additional compensation will generally be awarded by the court for preparing and filing any tax returns, selling the decedent's assets including real property, litigating any lawsuit, continuing a business, and performing various other tasks. The amount requested varies depending upon the amount of time involved and is subject to the court's discretion.
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