Massachusetts Probate Cost: One Statewide Statutory Schedule
Massachusetts sets Probate and Family Court filing fees by statute and by pleading type, not by county and not by estate value. Opening an estate costs $390 whether the probate is informal or formal, and the small-estate statement costs $115.
Opening a Massachusetts estate costs $390. M.G.L. c. 262, § 40 charges $375 for a petition for formal probate of a will, adjudication of intestacy, and appointment of a personal representative, and the identical $375 for a petition for informal probate and appointment. M.G.L. c. 262, § 4C adds a $15 surcharge to any filing that receives its own docket number. The schedule is statutory and statewide, so all 14 counties charge the same amounts. The small-estate route, voluntary administration under M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201, is $100 plus the surcharge, or $115.
Massachusetts imposes no value-based probate tax, sets no statutory attorney-fee schedule, and pays a personal representative reasonable compensation under M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-719 rather than a percentage of the estate. Two later filings do scale with value: the fee to file an account, graduated by the gross value accounted for and charged for each year the account covers, and the fee for a license to sell real or personal estate. Plan separately for publication of the citation, certified copies, any bond premium, appraisals, and the Massachusetts estate tax, which applies to a taxable estate above $2,000,000 for deaths on or after January 1, 2023.
Quick Summary
- First-paper fee
- $390$375 under § 40 plus the $15 § 4C surcharge, informal or formal
- Voluntary administration
- $115The small-estate statement (§ 3-1201)
- Small-estate ceiling
- $25,000Personal property outside one motor vehicle
- PR compensation
- ReasonableNo statutory percentage (§ 3-719)
The § 40 schedule is statutory and statewide, so every one of the 14 Probate and Family Court divisions charges the same filing fees and there is nothing to compare county by county. What varies locally is the courthouse and the ancillary costs: 14 counties are served by 19 courthouses because some divisions run an additional session at a second courthouse (Bristol sits in Taunton and also sits in Fall River and New Bedford; Essex sits in Salem and also sits in Lawrence), newspaper publication is priced by the newspaper the register designates, and copy and certificate charges come from the Trial Court uniform schedule under M.G.L. c. 262, § 4B. Confirm those with the Register of Probate where the decedent lived.
Typical Total Cost Ranges
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| Procedure | Estate Size | Court Fee | Timeline | Attorney? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voluntary Administration | Entirely personal property: one motor vehicle the decedent owned, plus other personal property not exceeding $25,000 in value (M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1201) | $115 ($100 under § 40 plus the $15 § 4C surcharge) | Filed 30 or more days after death; commonly 1 to 2 months | No | Small personal-property estates with no real estate and no pending appointment petition |
| Informal Probate and Appointment | No dollar threshold; used when the petition is uncontested and no formal proceeding is required (M.G.L. c. 190B, §§ 3-301 to 3-311) | $390 ($375 under § 40 plus the $15 § 4C surcharge) | Commonly 6 to 12 months; no closing statement earlier than 6 months after appointment | No statewide requirement; counsel is common | The ordinary uncontested estate that needs a personal representative with letters |
| Formal Probate and Appointment | No dollar threshold; used when the will is contested, the original is missing, an heir is a minor or incapacitated, or an interested person demands it (M.G.L. c. 190B, §§ 3-401 to 3-414) | $390, the same base fee as informal probate ($375 under § 40 plus the $15 § 4C surcharge) | Commonly 9 to 18 months, longer if contested | No statewide requirement; counsel is strongly advisable when contested | Contested or unusual estates that need a judge to decide who takes |
| Supervised Administration | No dollar threshold; ordered by the court on petition (M.G.L. c. 190B, §§ 3-501 to 3-505) | $390 for the petition for supervised administration, plus the account-filing fee graduated by value | Commonly 12 to 24 months | No statewide requirement; counsel is usual | Estates where beneficiaries want a court order behind every distribution |
| Summary Administration Procedure | A formula, not a dollar cap: the whole estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the family allowances, exempt property, administration costs and expenses, reasonable funeral expenses, and last-illness medical and hospital expenses (M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-1203) | The $390 petition that opens the estate, plus $75 for the closing statement under § 40 | Commonly 2 to 4 months after appointment | No statewide requirement | Estates consumed by allowances, funeral, last-illness, and administration expenses |
Additional Costs to Expect
First-Paper Filing Fee
M.G.L. c. 262, § 40 sets $375 for a petition for formal probate of a will, adjudication of intestacy, and appointment of a personal representative, and the identical $375 for a petition for informal probate and appointment, for supervised administration, for formal appointment of a successor personal representative, to appoint a special personal representative, and to appoint a trustee. Section 4C adds $15 to any filing assigned a separate docket number, so the real first-paper total is $390. A statement of voluntary administration is $100 plus the surcharge, or $115. The amounts are identical in all 14 counties.
Later Petitions Inside the Case
Section 40 charges flat fees for later filings, and the § 4C surcharge attaches only to a filing that opens a new docket number. A petition for the allowance of an account is $75 plus the surcharge, or $90. A closing statement or small estate closing statement is $75, and so is a petition to render an inventory or account. A petition for formal removal of a personal representative is $100 with no surcharge, because it is filed inside the existing docket. A petition to vacate a formal order is $150, and a general probate petition is $150. Issuance of a subsequent letter is $25, each citation is $15, and each summons is $5.
Account-Filing Fee, Graduated by Value
This is the one place where a Massachusetts estate-administration fee scales with value. Under § 40 the fee to file an account is set by the gross value accounted for in Schedule A and charged for each year or fraction of a year the account covers: no fee at $1,000 or less; $75 above $1,000 but not more than $10,000, capped at $170 regardless of the time covered; $100 from $10,000 to $100,000; $150 above $100,000 to $500,000; $200 above $500,000 to $1,000,000; $400 above $1,000,000 to $2,000,000; $750 above $2,000,000 to $5,000,000; $1,500 above $5,000,000 to $7,500,000; $2,500 above $7,500,000 to $10,000,000; and $3,500 above $10,000,000. Informal administration does not require routine annual accounts, so many estates never pay this fee.
License to Sell Real or Personal Estate
A fiduciary petition or application for a license to sell real or personal estate is graduated under § 40 by the gross value accounted for: $100 at $100,000 or less; $250 above $100,000 to $250,000; $500 above $250,000 to $500,000; $750 above $500,000 to $1,000,000; and $1,000 above $1,000,000. Leave to lease real estate and leave to mortgage real estate are each $75.
Personal Representative Compensation
A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services under M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-719. Massachusetts publishes no percentage-of-estate schedule and no court guideline rate, so any percentage figure quoted for Massachusetts has no statutory basis. The Probate and Family Court can review the amount, and compensation is one of the questions the court may resolve under M.G.L. c. 215, § 39B. Where a will provides for compensation and there is no contract with the decedent about it, the personal representative may renounce that provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead, and may file a written renunciation of the fee with the court. A voluntary personal representative under § 3-1201 serves without a fee, so the small-estate path carries no compensation at all.
Attorney Fees
Massachusetts sets no statutory attorney-fee schedule for probate and no percentage table. Fees are by agreement, hourly or flat, and are subject to a reasonableness standard. At any time during administration, and whether or not a proceeding is pending, the Probate and Family Court may hear an application to fix and determine the compensation and expenses of an attorney for services rendered to the estate, to its representative, or to a devisee, legatee, distributee, or other interested person, and awards compensation on an equitable basis according to the size, importance, complexity, and difficulty of the matters involved and the time spent on them (M.G.L. c. 215, § 39A). In a contested proceeding the court may order reasonable counsel fees and expenses paid out of the estate to a party (§ 39B), and a personal representative who prosecutes or defends a proceeding in good faith is entitled to necessary expenses including reasonable attorney fees (M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-720). The hourly and flat ranges above are market estimates for planning, not statutory figures.
Bond Premium
Sureties are required on a personal representative’s bond unless the will directs no bond or waives surety, all heirs (if no will is probated) or all devisees consent, or the court excuses it (M.G.L. c. 190B, § 3-603). The surety requirement is statutory; the premium percentage is set by the surety company and is a market estimate rather than a statutory or court-set amount.
Publication, Copies, and Appraisals
Newspaper publication of a citation, when the court orders notice by publication, is billed by the newspaper the register designates, and no statewide figure exists because rates and the required notice both vary. Certified and attested copies and certificates of appointment come from the Trial Court uniform fee schedule under M.G.L. c. 262, § 4B rather than from a dollar amount in § 40, so confirm the current rate with the register. Real property and unusual personal property may need appraisal for the 3-month inventory under § 3-706, commonly about $350 to $600 for a real-property appraisal as a market estimate.
Massachusetts Estate Tax
Separate from any court fee, Massachusetts levies its own estate tax under M.G.L. c. 65C, § 2A. For a death on or after January 1, 2023, no Massachusetts estate tax is owed if the value of the federal taxable estate is $2,000,000 or less, and a credit of up to $99,600 is allowed against the tax. The threshold is keyed to the date of death and is not indexed for inflation, so use the figure for the year of death. Massachusetts has no inheritance tax and no value-based probate tax.
One more cost source to check: if the person who died received Medicaid long-term care benefits, the state may file a recovery claim against the estate. The Massachusetts Medicaid estate recovery guide explains when that applies.