New Castle County Register of Wills Guide

Note: THERE IS NO STATEWIDE DELAWARE PROBATE FILING FEE AND THIS SCHEDULE IS GRADUATED BY ESTATE VALUE. 12 Del. C. § 2510 provides that the governing body of each county determines the fees charged by the Register of Wills of that county, and § 2511 requires each Register to keep the current list posted for public inspection. The judiciary's own fee index lists the Supreme Court, Court of Chancery, Superior Court, Family Court, Court of Common Pleas and Justice of the Peace Court and carries no Register of Wills entry of any kind, which is the primary source for the negative. The three county schedules differ materially and no figure on one may be carried to another. The New Castle County Register of Wills grants letters on a GRADUATED table measured on the value of the decedent's personal property: under $50,000 = $25; between $50,000 and $99,999.99 = $50; between $100,000 and $499,999.99 = $75; between $500,000 and $999,999.99 = $100; between $1,000,000 and $1,499,999.99 = $200; between $1,500,000 and $1,999,999.99 = $300; between $2,000,000 and $2,499,999.99 = $400; between $2,500,000 and $2,999,999.99 = $500; between $3,000,000 and $3,499,999.99 = $600; between $3,500,000 and $3,999,999.99 = $700; between $4,000,000 and $4,499,999.99 = $800; between $4,500,000 and $4,999,999.99 = $900; between $5,000,000 and $5,499,999.99 = $1000; between $6,000,000 and $6,499,999.99 = $1100; between $6,500,000 and $6,999,999.99 = $1200; between $7,000,000 and $7,499,999.99 = $1300; between $7,500,000 and $7,999,999.99 = $1400; each additional $500,000 increment = $100. The petition itself is $5 per personal representative to file the Petition for Authority to Act. THE FEE TO OPEN IS NOT THE COST OF THE ESTATE. Most of the money is the percentage charged when the final account is passed, not the bracket paid at the opening, so an estimate built only from the opening fee understates a large estate by orders of magnitude. In this county the closing charge is 1.75% of the net personal estate, plus a separate technology cost of 0.25% of the net personal estate. The inventory is $15 base fee plus $1 per extra page. The published bracket table HAS A GAP: it jumps from the $5,000,000 to $5,499,999.99 band straight to the $6,000,000 to $6,499,999.99 band, with no band for $5.5M to $6.0M. That is the county's own schedule, recorded verbatim rather than interpolated. New Castle is also the only one of the three counties that charges a SEPARATE technology cost on top of its closing cost, so its effective closing rate is 2.00% of the net personal estate, not the 1.75% the closing-cost line alone suggests. Each additional Small Estate Affidavit obtained at the same visit is $5. Issuing an estate closing letter is $50, and reversing an administrative closing is $500. Source: https://www.newcastlede.gov/DocumentCenter/View/153/Fee-Schedule, read 2026-09-10. Statutory authority: 12 Del. C. § 2510 (each county council sets these fees) and § 2511 (each Register must keep the current list posted).