Hooker County Court Guide

Note: NEBRASKA PROBATE FILING FEES ARE SET BY STATUTE STATEWIDE, SO THEY ARE THE SAME IN ALL 93 COUNTIES AND THIS COUNTY SETS NONE OF ITS OWN. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 33-125 charges twenty-two dollars for a probate proceeding commenced and closed INFORMALLY, and a twenty-step ladder on estate value for a proceeding commenced or closed FORMALLY. PUBLISHING $22 AS "THE NEBRASKA PROBATE FILING FEE" UNDERSTATES THE BILL BY HALF, because two other statutes load onto every county court case: § 24-703(3)(a) adds a judges retirement charge equal to ten percent of the § 33-125 fee, and six per-case cost statutes add exactly $20.00 (§ 33-107.01 legal services $6.25, § 33-107.03 court automation $8.00, § 33-154 NSC education $1.00, § 33-155 dispute resolution $0.75, § 33-156 indigent defense $3.00 and § 47-633 uniform data analysis $1.00). So an informal probate collects $44.00 at filing, or $45.00 in a testate case with the § 33-126.05 certificate of probate of will. A FORMAL probate collects $44.00 to $1,670.00 depending on the gross value of the estate, which § 33-125(2) defines as the real and personal property in Nebraska at the time of death LESS liens and joint tenancy property. The twenty brackets are stored in full in formal_probate_fee_brackets. Each later petition or application inside an informal probate is $24.00, because the six court costs are charged once per case. A petition dismissed with no appointment or order is $11.00. Nearly every Nebraska estate also needs an inheritance tax determination under § 33-126.03: $44.00 standalone, $24.00 inside an informal probate, and no fee at all inside a formal probate. Amounts cross-checked on 2026-09-10 against both the statute and the Nebraska Judicial Branch fee schedule effective 2026-07-01. Confirm the current total with the clerk of the county court before filing.