Massachusetts Probate Fee Calculator

What Drives Probate Cost in Massachusetts

Court filing fees are the visible starting point, but many estates also pay for certified copies, notice or publication, property recordings, appraisals, and legal help.

Massachusetts probate filing fees are set by one statewide statutory schedule, M.G.L. c. 262, § 40, and they are flat by pleading type rather than graduated by the value of the estate. Opening an estate costs $390 in every county: the $375 petition fee plus the $15 surcharge under § 4C, which attaches because the petition gets its own docket number. Informal and formal probate carry the identical $375 base, so choosing informal probate saves time and not money. Voluntary administration, the small-estate path under M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201, is $100 plus the surcharge, or $115, and covers an estate of personal property only within a $25,000 ceiling that excludes one motor vehicle. Because the schedule is statutory, all 14 counties charge the same amounts and there is no county fee variation to model. What differs locally is the courthouse, since Bristol, Essex, Middlesex, Plymouth and Suffolk run additional sessions, so 14 counties are served by 19 courthouses. Certified copies and the certificate of appointment are priced administratively by the Trial Court under § 4B instead of by a dollar amount in § 40, and each citation ($15), each summons ($5), and newspaper publication are separate charges. Massachusetts sets no value-based probate tax, no statutory attorney-fee schedule (M.G.L. c. 215, § 39A), and no percentage for personal representative compensation (reasonable compensation, § 3-719). Confirm the current total with the Register of Probate where the decedent lived.