Lake County Circuit Court Guide

Note: Lake County's fee schedule effective October 1, 2025 lists the Probate (PR) filing fee for Administration of a Decedent's Estate at $384.00 (missing person $384.00, wrongful death or collection of judgment $284.00), with the probate appearance fee at $209.00 (no fee for the appearance of an executor, administrator, guardian, or guardian ad litem), estate accountings at $25.00, estate claims at $20.00 ($150 to $499.99), $40.00 ($500 to $9,999.99), and $60.00 ($10,000 or more), certified letters of office at $2.00 per copy, and filing a will alone at no charge. The decedent-estate total is the civil Schedule 2 case filing fee set by the county board under 705 ILCS 105/27.1b (probate cases are assigned to Schedule 2 by Illinois Supreme Court order M.R. 29741) plus the flat $100 guardianship and advocacy operations fee charged on decedent estate administration filings under 705 ILCS 105/27.3f. The small estate affidavit (755 ILCS 5/25-1) is presented directly to banks and other asset holders, not filed with the court, so it has no court filing fee. Newspaper publication costs are paid directly to the newspaper. County fee schedule accessed 2026-07-18. Verify the current amounts with the Lake County Circuit Court Clerk before filing.