Who Pays the Probate Attorney Fees?

The estate pays the probate attorney's fees, not the representative or heirs personally. In California, ordinary attorney and representative fees follow a statutory schedule set by the Probate Code and calculated on the gross value of the estate.

How the statutory fee works

The schedule is 4 percent of the first 100,000 dollars, 3 percent of the next 100,000, 2 percent of the next 800,000, and 1 percent of the next 9 million, with the attorney and the representative each entitled to that amount. On a 900,000 dollar estate, each statutory fee is about 21,000 dollars. These fees are generally paid at the end of the case from estate assets, often from the home sale proceeds. Extraordinary services can add fees with court approval.