The Cost of Probate in America: A 22-State Data Report

Probate has a reputation for being slow and expensive, but "expensive" means something different in every state. There is no federal probate system. Each state writes its own rules for what an estate can skip, how long it must stay open, what an executor can be paid, and what the court charges to file. Those rules are public, but they are scattered across statutes, court fee schedules, and clerk offices, which makes a clear national comparison hard to find.

This report pulls together four of the most important cost drivers across the 22 states where Settled Estate maintains a verified probate dataset. Every figure here comes from that dataset, which is built from state statutes and official court fee schedules and is the same data that powers our state fee calculators. We did not estimate or model any number. Where a state does not fit a clean comparison, we say so rather than force a figure.

A quick boundary first: Settled Estate is not a law firm and this report is not legal advice. Statutes change, dollar thresholds in several states adjust for inflation, and the exact cost of any estate depends on its facts. Use this as a map, then confirm the current rule for your state before you rely on it.

How we compiled this data

We compared 22 states across four measures that families actually feel:

1. The small-estate threshold: the dollar line below which an estate can use a simplified, lower-cost path instead of full probate.
2. Executor compensation: how each state decides what the person running the estate can be paid.
3. The creditor claim period: how long an estate must stay open for creditors, which sets a floor on how fast probate can finish.
4. Court filing fees: what the court charges to open the case.

Each number is tied to its governing statute in the tables below. Two notes on method. First, thresholds and fees often exclude certain assets (a homestead, exempt property, or real estate) or apply only to personal property, so the headline number is a starting point, not the whole rule. Second, three states (Arizona, Louisiana, and Virginia) do not express a creditor claim period as a fixed number of months in our dataset, so we leave them out of that one table rather than guess.

Part 1: The dollar line to skip full probate

The single most valuable number for most families is the small-estate threshold. Stay under it and you may be able to use an affidavit or a simplified court process instead of full administration, which is faster and cheaper. The range across states is striking: the cutoff for personal property runs from $20,000 in North Carolina to $208,850 in California.

What this table hides matters as much as what it shows. Most of these thresholds cover personal property only and exclude real estate, and several exclude a homestead or other protected assets. A surviving spouse often gets a higher limit, as in Nevada, North Carolina, and Ohio. A few states do not set one dollar cap at all: Georgia routes small estates through year's support and a no-administration order instead, and Alabama's summary distribution is pegged to its family and exempt-property allowances, which is why it lands near $47,000 for 2026 rather than at a fixed statutory figure. Check the exact rule on your state's small estate affidavit page before relying on a number.

Part 2: What the executor can be paid

Executor compensation (called personal representative or administrator compensation in many states) is one of the largest costs in a formal probate, and states take two very different approaches to it. Fourteen of the 22 states set the pay by a statutory percentage schedule or a hard cap. The other eight leave it to a "reasonable compensation" standard, where a written agreement or the court decides.

States with a statutory percentage or cap

States that use a "reasonable compensation" standard

The split is the headline finding. In a percentage-schedule state, a family can estimate the executor's fee up front: a $600,000 California estate, for example, carries an ordinary statutory commission of $15,000 under the Probate Code 10800 schedule. In a "reasonable compensation" state, the same estate has no published number, which can be a feature (a family member often waives the fee) or a friction point (the amount has to be justified to a court). To see the actual number for a value you enter, use the executor compensation tool for your state.

Part 3: How long creditors have, and why probate cannot finish sooner

Even a simple, uncontested estate usually cannot close right away, because most states require it to stay open for a creditor claim period. During that window, creditors can present claims, and an executor who distributes too early can be personally exposed. This is one of the clearest reasons probate takes months even when nothing is in dispute.

Most states cluster at 3 to 4 months, but the tail is long. Ohio runs 6 months, South Carolina 8, and Pennsylvania a full year before claims are generally barred. The start date also varies: many states run the clock from the first published notice to creditors, and known creditors usually get separate direct notice with their own deadline. Arizona, Louisiana, and Virginia structure this differently in our dataset and are not shown above. For the full picture in one place, see your state's probate timeline.

Part 4: Court filing fees are the smallest line item

People often brace for a large court bill, but the filing fee is usually the smallest piece of the cost. In flat-fee states it is a few hundred dollars. Here are verified court filing fees from states that publish a flat statewide figure:

Not every state uses a flat fee. New York scales the fee by estate value under SCPA 2402, South Carolina uses a value scale under S.C. Code 8-21-770, Virginia charges a probate tax tied to estate value, and Wisconsin charges 0.2% of the net estate value. County add-ons (recording, certified copies, publication) apply almost everywhere. For an exact, county-aware estimate, use the probate fee calculator for your state.

What actually drives the total cost of probate

Putting the four measures together, a realistic cost picture looks like this. The court filing fee is rarely the problem. The big variables are whether the estate can use a small-estate shortcut at all (Part 1), what the executor and the attorney are paid (Part 2), and how long the estate must stay open while costs accrue (Part 3). Layer on real property, a bond, publication, appraisals, and any dispute, and the spread between a clean small estate and a contested formal administration is enormous, even within the same state.

The practical takeaways:

• Check the small-estate threshold first. Qualifying for the simplified path is the single biggest cost lever for most families.
• In a percentage-schedule state, you can estimate executor and attorney costs up front. In a "reasonable compensation" state, plan to document and justify the amount.
• Budget for time, not just fees. A longer creditor period means a longer administration and more carrying costs.

See your state's numbers

The figures above are state averages and statutory rules. For the exact cost in your state, including county-level detail, start here:

• Cost breakdowns: How much does probate cost in Florida, California, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania
• Fee calculators: Florida, California, Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania
• Small estate thresholds: Florida, California, Texas, Ohio
• Executor compensation: Florida, California, Texas, Ohio

For deeper reading on individual cost lines, see our guides to Florida probate filing fees, California statutory probate fees, and Florida executor compensation.

Method and limits

This report covers the 22 states in Settled Estate's verified probate dataset and does not cover the remaining states. Every number is tied to a governing statute or an official court fee schedule as captured in that dataset, and the dataset is maintained against primary sources. Several figures are inflation-adjusted and change on a set schedule: California's small-estate threshold adjusts every three years (next on April 1, 2028), and Michigan's and New York's adjust annually. Filing fees and statutes can change at any time. Treat this as a current snapshot for 2026, not a permanent reference.

Settled Estate is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. This report is general information to help you understand and compare probate costs across states. For advice about a specific estate, consult a licensed attorney in the relevant state.