Florida Probate Costs and Attorney Fees Explained (2026 Guide)

Florida probate costs are the combined court filing fees, attorney fees, personal representative commissions, and administrative expenses paid out of an estate before assets reach the heirs. Attorney fees for ordinary services in a formal administration are governed by Florida Statute §733.6171, which sets a sliding scale presumed reasonable based on the estate’s compensable value. For a typical Palm Beach estate, total costs usually land somewhere between 3% and 8% of the probate assets, and the single biggest variable is rarely the size of the estate — it is how messy the creditors are.

That last point is where most online cost guides go quiet, and it is where we spend most of our time. An estate with a clean balance sheet and a cooperative family closes cheaply. An estate with hospital liens, a disputed mortgage deficiency, a Medicaid estate-recovery claim, and a credit-card company that lawyers up will run several times the cost of the exact same dollar value of assets. Below, we break down each line item, then show how creditor claims quietly inflate the final number.

The Two Roads: Summary vs. Formal Administration

Before you can estimate cost, you have to know which kind of probate you are in. Florida offers two main paths, and they are priced very differently.

Summary administration (Florida Statute §735.201) is the abbreviated route. It is available when the non-exempt estate is valued at $75,000 or less, or when the decedent has been dead for more than two years. (Note: a 2026 legislative change, CS/HB 1337, raises that threshold to $150,000 effective July 1, 2026 — worth confirming for any estate filed near that date.) There is no court-appointed personal representative, no formal inventory, and no mandatory creditor-claims period. Costs are modest, often a flat attorney fee plus filing costs.

Formal administration (Chapter 733) is the full proceeding: letters of administration are issued, a personal representative is appointed, an inventory is filed, and creditors are formally noticed. This is where the statutory fee schedule applies and where costs climb. Most estates above the summary threshold — and most estates with meaningful creditor exposure — end up here, because formal administration is the only way to cleanly cut off creditor claims. New York handles this division differently; if you are comparing states, Morgan Legal’s overview of is a useful contrast to Florida’s two-track system.

Court Filing Fees and Hard Costs

These are the predictable, non-negotiable expenses. They do not scale with the size of the estate, so on a large estate they are a rounding error, and on a small one they sting. Typical hard costs in a Palm Beach County formal administration include:

• Clerk of Court filing fee — generally around $400 for a formal administration, less for summary.
• Publication of the Notice to Creditors — newspaper publication costs, usually $100–$250 depending on the publication.
• Certified copies and recording fees — letters of administration, certified death certificates, and recording deeds when real property transfers.
• Bond premium — if the will does not waive bond and the court requires one, the annual premium is a recurring cost until the estate closes.
• Accountants and appraisers — for estates with a business interest, closely held stock, or unusual assets that need valuation.

None of these is large on its own. Together, on a routine estate, hard costs often total $1,000 to $3,000.

Attorney Fees Under Florida Statute §733.6171

This is the line item that dominates the conversation. Florida is unusual in that the legislature wrote a presumptive fee schedule directly into statute. Under §733.6171, attorney compensation for ordinary services in a formal administration is presumed reasonable when calculated on the estate’s “compensable value” — the inventory value of the probate assets plus income earned by the estate during administration.

The presumptively reasonable schedule runs roughly as follows:

1. $1,500 for estates valued at $40,000 or less.
2. An additional $750 for the value between $40,000 and $70,000.
3. An additional $750 for the value between $70,000 and $100,000.
4. 3% of the value above $100,000, up to $1 million.
5. 2.5% of the value between $1 million and $3 million.
6. 2% of the value between $3 million and $5 million.

So a $500,000 probate estate produces a presumptively reasonable attorney fee of $3,000 (the first $100,000) plus 3% of the remaining $400,000, or $12,000 — for a total of $15,000. That is the ordinary services number.

Two things people miss. First, this schedule is presumptive, not mandatory. The statute itself requires the attorney to disclose, in writing, that there is no mandatory statutory fee and that the fee is negotiable. Many firms — ours included — will quote a flat fee or an hourly arrangement that comes in below the schedule for a straightforward estate. Second, the schedule covers only ordinary administration. Litigation, will contests, tax controversy, and — critically — contested creditor claims are billed as extraordinary services on top of the base fee.

Personal Representative Compensation (§733.617)

The personal representative — the executor, in plain English — is also entitled to a fee, separate from the attorney. Florida Statute §733.617 sets a parallel presumptive commission: 3% of the first $1 million of compensable value, 2.5% on the next $4 million, and so on down a sliding scale. A family member who serves as PR is free to waive this fee, and many do, especially when they are also a primary beneficiary and would rather inherit the money than pay income tax on a commission. When a professional fiduciary or a bank trust department serves, the commission is almost always taken in full.

Where the Real Money Goes: Creditor Claims

Here is the part that the fee schedule does not capture, and the reason two estates of identical value can cost wildly different amounts. In a formal administration, the personal representative must publish a Notice to Creditors and serve known or reasonably ascertainable creditors directly. That triggers a claims window: creditors generally have three months from first publication to file, or 30 days from the date they are personally served, whichever is later, under Florida Statute §733.702.

What happens inside that window determines the bill. A few scenarios we see constantly in Palm Beach estates:

• Independent or improperly served creditors. If a known creditor is never served, the limitations period never starts running against them — they can surface late and force a reopening. Getting service right the first time is cheaper than litigating it later.
• Objections to claims. When the PR believes a filed claim is invalid, the attorney files an objection under the statute, and the creditor then has a limited window to file an independent action. Each contested claim is extraordinary-services work.
• Medicaid estate recovery and hospital liens. These claims are technical, time-sensitive, and frequently negotiable — but only if someone who knows the rules handles them before the deadline.
• The two-year absolute bar. Florida Statute §733.710 imposes a statute of repose: two years after the date of death, most claims are barred regardless of notice. This is a powerful tool, but it cuts both ways and interacts with the publication rules in ways that reward careful handling.

An estate where creditors are paid, barred, or negotiated down cleanly stays near the bottom of the cost range. An estate where the PR ignores a claim deadline, or pays a claim that should have been challenged, can lose far more than the legal fees would ever have cost. This is the editorial heart of how we practice: creditor exposure, not asset value, is usually the lever that moves the final number. For the procedural mechanics of how a probate case is actually opened and moved through the court — which is similar in structure across states — Morgan Legal’s walkthrough of is a clear primer, and our Florida team handles the same lifecycle locally through our .

Can You Reduce What Probate Costs?

Yes, and most of it happens before death, not after. The cleanest way to shrink a probate bill is to shrink the probate estate itself: assets that pass by beneficiary designation, joint ownership with rights of survivorship, or a properly funded revocable living trust never enter probate and never count toward the compensable value that drives the fee schedule. A well-drafted estate plan can take a $2 million gross estate and leave only a fraction of it subject to administration. If you have not reviewed how your assets are titled, start with our guidance on wills and basic estate documents, and if you are facing an active estate, our overview of the Florida probate process walks through the steps and deadlines in detail.

After death, the levers are narrower but still real: serving creditors correctly the first time, objecting to weak claims promptly, using the two-year bar where it applies, and choosing a PR who will cooperate rather than fight. None of that is do-it-yourself work when creditors are involved — but it is exactly the work that pays for itself.

A Realistic Cost Estimate

For a clean, uncontested formal administration of a mid-sized Palm Beach estate — say $400,000 to $600,000 in probate assets with cooperative heirs and routine creditors — expect total costs in the range of 4% to 6% of the estate once attorney fees, the PR commission (if taken), and hard costs are added together. Summary administration of a small, debt-free estate can come in under $3,500 all-in. And a contested estate with aggressive creditors or litigation has no tidy percentage at all; it is billed by the hour and bounded only by how hard the fight gets. The honest answer to “what will probate cost?” is always: it depends on the creditors. Talk to a Palm Beach probate attorney before you publish a single notice — the early decisions are the expensive ones.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does probate cost in Florida?

For a typical formal administration, total costs usually run between 3% and 8% of the probate assets once you combine the attorney fee, the personal representative commission, and hard costs like filing and publication fees. Summary administration of a small, debt-free estate can cost under $3,500. The biggest variable is creditor activity, not the size of the estate.

Is the Florida probate attorney fee schedule mandatory?

No. Florida Statute §733.6171 sets a fee that is presumed reasonable, but the statute itself requires the attorney to disclose in writing that there is no mandatory statutory fee and that it is negotiable. Many firms quote a flat or hourly fee that comes in below the schedule for a straightforward estate.

Who pays the attorney fees and court costs in a Florida probate?

They are paid out of the estate’s assets before the remaining property is distributed to the heirs, not out of the beneficiaries’ pockets directly. In practical terms, every dollar of cost reduces what the heirs ultimately inherit.

How do creditor claims affect probate costs?

Heavily. Ordinary administration is covered by the base fee, but contested creditor claims, objections, Medicaid estate-recovery claims, and improperly served creditors are billed as extraordinary services on top of it. An estate of a given value can cost several times more than an identical one if its creditors are aggressive or mishandled.

Can I avoid probate costs in Florida?

Largely, yes — but mostly through planning before death. Assets that pass by beneficiary designation, survivorship, or a funded revocable living trust never enter probate and never count toward the compensable value that drives the fee schedule, which can dramatically reduce or eliminate administration costs.