1. What Do Probate Lawyers Charge Under Florida Law?
Florida’s probate code sets a schedule of attorney’s fees that are presumed reasonable for the ordinary work of a formal administration, scaled to the value of the estate. Most states leave the number to the market, so Florida families can check a quote against the statute before signing anything.
| Estate value | Presumed-reasonable fee |
|---|---|
| $40,000 or less | $1,500 |
| Over $40,000 to $70,000 | $2,250 |
| Over $70,000 to $100,000 | $3,000 |
| $100,000 to $1 million | $3,000 plus 3% of the value over $100,000 ($15,000 at $500,000, $30,000 at $1 million) |
| $1 million to $3 million | Plus 2.5% ($55,000 at $2 million) |
| $3 million to $5 million | Plus 2% |
| Over $5 million | Plus 1.5% to $10 million, then 1% |
The personal representative’s commission is a separate line, presumed reasonable at 3% of the first $1 million, so a $500,000 estate that pays both at the statutory rate pays about $30,000 before filing fees. Our Florida probate cost calculator runs both numbers for any estate value.
2. Is the Statutory Fee Mandatory?
The statutory fee is not mandatory. The schedule is presumed reasonable, and the attorney, the personal representative and the beneficiaries can agree on a different fee. Florida makes the point to the client directly. A lawyer who intends to charge on the schedule must tell the personal representative in writing that no fee is mandatory, that the fee need not be based on the size of the estate, that the fee is negotiable, and that the personal representative chooses the lawyer and need not hire the one who wrote the will. The personal representative signs an acknowledgment, and a lawyer who skips the disclosures cannot be paid without court approval or the written consent of everyone affected.
A flat fee is one of the different methods the statute allows, and for a routine estate it is often well below the schedule.
3. What Estate Value Sets the Fee?
The fee is based on the compensable value of the estate, which is the inventory value of the probate assets plus the income the estate earns during the administration. Property that passes outside probate does not count, including a house passing by a lady bird deed or to a surviving spouse by the entireties, a funded living trust, joint accounts with survivorship, and accounts with a named beneficiary. A family with a $900,000 net worth and a $120,000 probate estate faces a schedule fee of $3,600, which is why whether you need probate at all is the first question.
4. What Are Extraordinary Services?
Extraordinary services are billed on top of the ordinary fee, at a further reasonable amount. Florida lists examples, including a will contest or other litigation, a contested creditor claim, an elective share proceeding, tax audits and tax planning after death, buying, selling or leasing real estate, running the decedent’s business, homestead determinations, and an ancillary administration. Preparing the federal estate tax return is presumed reasonable at one-half of 1% of the gross estate up to $10 million.
What counts as extraordinary depends on the estate. In a 2002 case over an $8.3 million estate with $6 million in securities managed by a bank, a horse farm and two warehouses, the trial court awarded the personal representative $206,460 and counsel $177,345 at the statutory rates and refused extra fees for selling the horses, satisfying the mortgage and leasing the warehouses, because work of that kind was ordinary for an estate that size. The Fourth District affirmed.
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Book your free consult5. Who Pays the Probate Lawyer?
The estate pays the probate lawyer, from estate assets and without a court order. The fees of the personal representative and the attorney sit in the first class of payment, ahead of the funeral, the taxes and every creditor, which is why an estate with heavy debts still has its administration paid. The beneficiaries bear the cost indirectly, because it reduces what is left to inherit.
One contract term deserves attention. Florida generally protects a personal representative from personal liability on contracts signed for the estate, with an exception for a contract for attorney’s fees. A personal representative who signs a fee agreement can be personally liable on it unless the agreement says otherwise, so read the engagement letter before signing. Our guide to the Florida personal representative covers the rest of the job.
6. How Much Does Each Type of Probate Cost?
The price follows the kind of proceeding the estate needs. Our posted flat fees are below, and our page on Florida probate cost by county lists the 2026 filing fees, which were $400 or $401 for a formal administration in every one of the ten largest counties.
| Proceeding | When it applies | Our flat fee |
|---|---|---|
| Disposition without administration | No real estate, and assets no more than the final illness and funeral expenses | from $1,500 |
| Summary administration | $150,000 or less after exempt property, or a death more than two years ago | from $2,500 |
| Formal administration | Larger estates, or any estate needing a personal representative | from $3,500 |
| Ancillary administration | A nonresident who died owning Florida property | from $3,500 |
Filing fees, newspaper publication and certified copies are government and third-party costs, additional and passed through at cost. Advertised fees are honored for 90 days from the posted date. A will contest, a removal fight or a disputed claim is litigation, which we quote per matter rather than as a flat fee. Our guide to how long probate takes covers the timeline each route follows.
7. Can You Challenge a Probate Lawyer’s Fee?
Any interested person, including a beneficiary, can petition the probate court to increase or decrease the attorney’s fee. The court weighs the promptness and skill of the work, the responsibility and potential liability the lawyer took on, the value and nature of the assets, the benefit to the estate, the complexity of the administration, and whether the required disclosures were made, among other factors. The lawyer and the personal representative carry the burden of proving the fee reasonable, and a lawyer found to have taken too much can be ordered to refund it. Where the personal representative is also a beneficiary, our page on whether a beneficiary can be the executor covers the conflicts that come with the role.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Much Does a Probate Attorney Cost?
In Florida the statutory schedule presumes reasonable $1,500 for an estate of $40,000 or less, $3,000 at $100,000, $15,000 at $500,000 and $30,000 at $1 million, for a formal administration. The schedule is negotiable, and many routine estates cost less on a flat fee. We handle summary administration for a flat fee from $2,500 and a routine formal administration for a flat fee from $3,500.
How Much Do Probate Lawyers Charge?
Florida probate lawyers charge in one of three ways, namely the statutory percentage schedule, an hourly rate, or a flat fee agreed in advance. A lawyer who intends to use the schedule must first tell the personal representative in writing that no fee is mandatory and that the fee can be negotiated. Whatever the method, the estate pays the fee rather than the family members personally.
What Is the Average Cost of a Probate Attorney in Florida?
Florida publishes no average. The closest thing to a benchmark is the presumed-reasonable schedule in the probate code, which works out to 3% of a mid-sized estate plus a $3,000 base, so about $15,000 on a $500,000 estate. Flat fees for routine estates often come in well below that, and a contested estate can cost more because litigation is billed separately.
Where Can I Find a Low Cost Probate Attorney?
The lowest cost usually comes from the right kind of proceeding. Disposition without administration, for a small estate with no real estate, is a flat fee from $1,500. Summary administration, for estates of $150,000 or less after exempt property or any death more than two years ago, is a flat fee from $2,500. A flat fee agreed in writing before the first filing also removes the surprise from the bill.
How Much Does It Cost to File Probate in Florida?
The court filing fee for a formal administration was $400 or $401 in each of Florida’s ten largest counties in 2026, and $345 or $346 for a summary administration of $1,000 or more. Formal administration also requires a notice to creditors in a newspaper once a week for two weeks, which runs about $75 to $105 at a weekly legal paper and more at a metro daily. Certified copies are extra.
Can You File Probate in Florida Without an Attorney?
Florida allows it only in narrow cases. Florida’s probate rules require every personal representative to be represented by a Florida attorney unless the personal representative is the sole interested person in the estate, or is a Florida lawyer. The small-estate routes with no court, such as disposition without administration, still involve forms the clerk and the bank must accept.
Do I Have to Hire the Lawyer Who Wrote the Will?
You do not. Florida law says the personal representative chooses the attorney and is not required to hire the lawyer who prepared the will. If the drafting lawyer is hired and the will or a separate agreement set the fee, the fee cannot exceed what the agreement or the will provides.
Is the Personal Representative’s Fee Separate From the Lawyer’s Fee?
The two fees are separate. The personal representative earns a commission, presumed reasonable at 3% of the first $1 million in a formal administration, and the attorney’s fee is in addition. A family member serving as personal representative often waives the commission, which the attorney’s fee does not affect.
Common Situations
The $300,000 condo estate. A widow leaves a condo worth $280,000 and $20,000 in a bank account with no beneficiary, all to her two sons. The statutory schedule would presume $9,000 reasonable for the attorney. The sons sign a flat-fee agreement for a routine formal administration instead, and the number is fixed before the petition is filed.
The estate that needed no probate. A father’s house passed by lady bird deed and his accounts all had beneficiaries. The only asset left in his name is a $3,000 refund check. His daughter learns no formal administration is needed, and the cost is the small-estate route rather than a percentage of the house.
Sources of Law
- Fla. Stat. §733.6171(1) (reasonable compensation payable from estate assets without court order); (2)(a)-(d) (compensation in a different manner by agreement; written disclosures; acknowledgment; no payment without court approval or consent if disclosures are not made); (3) (presumed-reasonable schedule); (4) (extraordinary services, including the federal estate tax return fee); (5) (court review on petition of any interested person; factors); (6) (separate agreement or will provision caps the fee of a drafting attorney who is employed).
- Fla. Stat. §733.617(2) (personal representative commission schedule); §733.6175(1)-(4) (court review of compensation; burden of proof on the personal representative and the person employed; refunds; expert testimony); §733.619(1) (no individual liability on contracts properly entered into as fiduciary, except a contract for attorney’s fees); §733.707(1)(a) (administration costs and attorney’s fees in class 1).
- Fla. Prob. R. 5.030(a) (personal representative must be represented by a Florida attorney unless the personal representative remains the sole interested person or is a Florida attorney).
- Filing fees and publication rates as verified on our Florida probate cost by county page (2026 clerk schedules and newspaper rate cards).
- Cases, each read in full from the opinion text on the local CourtListener corpus, retrieved October 1, 2026: Venis v. Greenspan, 833 So. 2d 208 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002) (statutory-rate fees on an $8.3 million estate; extraordinary fees denied where the services were ordinary for an estate that size); Sitomer v. First of America Bank-Central, 667 So. 2d 456 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996) (retold below).
The $265,000 Fee on a $104,000 Florida Estate
My reading of the Florida fee cases is that the percentage schedule is where most fee disputes start, and one case from the Fourth District shows why the word presumed matters so much.
A man named Harold Good died owning a revocable trust in Lansing, Michigan worth about $25 million and Florida assets of $104,000, which consisted of a timeshare unit. His own lawyer served as personal representative of the Florida estate and asked the probate court for $265,236.57 for administering it, calculated under the percentage formula then in the statute. The bank on the other side of the case opposed the request. The trial court heard expert witnesses, who testified that about 100 hours at $300 an hour was a reasonable amount of time for the work. The court awarded $60,000, made up of $30,000 for the hours and $30,000 for the size of the overall estate and the liability the lawyer had taken on. The Fourth District affirmed in 1996, and its opinion pointed out in a footnote that the amount requested worked out to $2,625 an hour. I have a few take-home points.
The first is the base. The Florida probate estate was a single timeshare, and the request was driven by the size of the overall estate, Michigan trust included, rather than by the Florida work. The practice pointer is to identify exactly which assets are in the Florida probate estate before anyone applies a percentage to anything.
The second is the hours. A percentage fee is a starting point that the court can raise or lower on the factors in the statute. Avoid accepting a percentage quote without asking how many hours the lawyer expects the estate to take, because the court in that case priced half the fee by the hours.
The third is the agreement. A written fee agreed before the first filing gives the family a number to plan around and leaves nothing for a court to decide later. One limit is worth stating plainly. The statute the court applied, the 1993 version, used a different formula, a percentage plus the hours worked, and the schedule in the table above replaced it, so the case shows the court’s power to reduce a fee rather than today’s exact arithmetic.
Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., admitted in Florida since 2012. The cases described above are decisions of Florida courts rather than matters handled by this firm. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Updated on October 1, 2026. Reviewed by Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502. Attorney Kevin Klagge represents families, businesses, and international clients in estate and tax planning, business structuring, and international law, with a focus on Florida legal tools. He litigates estate and business issues in court. General information about Florida law, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created. Do not send confidential information until we have agreed to represent you.
More Guides on Florida Probate
This guide is part of Florida Probate.