How Much Does Probate Cost in Florida? Line by Line

A Florida formal administration on a $400,000 estate runs about $12,400 in court and ordinary attorney fees. If the personal representative takes the commission Florida law allows, add another $12,000. That is roughly 6 percent of the estate, before the extra fees that selling a house or clearing homestead will add on top.

Table of Contents

1. The short answer, with real numbers
2. The five line items
3. Line 1: Court filing fees in Broward and Miami-Dade
4. Line 2: Attorney fees for ordinary services
5. Line 3: The personal representative’s commission
6. Line 4: Extraordinary fees, the part nobody shows you
7. Line 5: Publication, bond and certified copies
8. Three worked examples
9. What summary administration saves you
10. The cost that never appears on an invoice
11. When the estate has a house but no cash
12. Your options, including the ones that do not involve us
13. Frequently asked questions

The Short Answer, With Real Numbers

Florida does something most states do not. It writes the fee into the statute.

Section 733.6171 of the Florida Statutes sets attorney fees for ordinary services in a formal administration that are presumed reasonable. Section 733.617 does the same for the personal representative’s commission. Neither is a cap and neither is mandatory, but both are the number everyone starts from.

Stack the two presumptions and add the Broward filing fee, and a formal administration costs close to 6 percent of the estate across most of the range families actually deal with. On a $400,000 Pembroke Pines house that is roughly $24,400 if the commission is taken, or roughly $12,400 if a family member serves and waives it.

James Banks, writing about probate across the states, observed that published fee guidelines pegged near 4 to 5 percent of probate assets look fair at first glance, and that extraordinary fees can push the real total to 6 to 10 percent or more. Florida’s own two schedules reach about 6 percent before a single extraordinary service is billed. His point holds here.

The Five Line Items

Line item	Who sets it	What drives the amount
Court filing fee	Statute and the clerk	Which track you file, and the county
Attorney fees, ordinary services	Fla. Stat. § 733.6171	Compensable value of the estate
Personal representative commission	Fla. Stat. § 733.617	Compensable value of the estate
Attorney fees, extraordinary services	Fla. Stat. § 733.6171(4)	What actually has to be done
Publication, bond, copies, recording	Newspaper, surety, clerk	Local rates and whether bond is required

Most published cost guides cover the first three. The fourth is where a probate with a house in it gets expensive, and it is almost never explained to heirs before they sign an engagement letter.

Line 1: Court Filing Fees in Broward and Miami-Dade

These are small, fixed and easy to confirm. Section 28.2401 sets the statutory amounts, and clerks add the authorized surcharges, so the published local figure runs a few dollars higher.

What you file	Statutory base, § 28.2401	Broward Clerk, as published
Formal administration	$395	$401
Summary administration, estate $1,000 or more	$340	$346
Summary administration, estate under $1,000	$230	$236
Disposition of personal property without administration	$230	$232
Opening an estate with no letters or summary order	$230	$232
Caveat	$40	$42

Confirm the current figure with the clerk in the county where the case will be filed before you write a check. Broward and Miami-Dade publish their own schedules and they do change.

The filing fee is never the problem. People fixate on it because it is the only number they can find, and it is the smallest line on the page.

Line 2: Attorney Fees for Ordinary Services

This is the big one, and Florida spells it out. Section 733.6171(3) says these amounts are presumed reasonable for ordinary services in a formal administration, based on the compensable value of the estate, which is the inventory value of the probate assets plus income earned during administration.

Estate value	Presumed reasonable fee
$40,000 or less	$1,500
Over $40,000 up to $70,000	An additional $750
Over $70,000 up to $100,000	An additional $750
Over $100,000	3% of the value up to $1 million
Over $1 million up to $3 million	2.5% of the excess
Over $3 million up to $5 million	2% of the excess
Over $5 million up to $10 million	1.5% of the excess
Over $10 million	1% of the excess

Run it out and the pattern is clear.

Estate value	Ordinary attorney fee
$40,000	$1,500
$70,000	$2,250
$100,000	$3,000
$150,000	$4,500
$250,000	$7,500
$400,000	$12,000
$600,000	$18,000
$800,000	$24,000
$1,000,000	$30,000

Two things worth knowing. The presumption is subject to the disclosure and agreement provisions in subsection (2), so it is a starting point for a written agreement rather than a price tag. And it covers formal administration. A summary administration is usually handled on a negotiated flat fee instead, which is one reason the short track costs so much less.

Ask for the fee agreement in writing, and ask specifically whether the quote is the ordinary-services number alone.

Line 3: The Personal Representative’s Commission

The person running the estate is entitled to be paid. Section 733.617(2) sets the presumed reasonable commission on the same compensable value basis.

Estate value	Presumed reasonable commission
First $1 million	3%
Above $1 million up to $5 million	2.5%
Above $5 million up to $10 million	2%
Above $10 million	1.5%

On a $400,000 estate that is $12,000. On an $800,000 estate it is $24,000.

Here is the part families should talk about openly. When the personal representative is also a beneficiary, which is the normal situation, taking the commission moves money from the pool everyone shares into one person’s pocket. Many family members serving in the role waive it for exactly that reason. Some do not, and they are entitled not to.

Either way, decide it early and in writing. Discovering it at the final accounting is how siblings stop speaking.

Line 4: Extraordinary Fees, the Part Nobody Shows You

This is the section that matters most if the estate contains a house, and it is missing from nearly every cost guide published on this subject.

The schedule in Line 2 covers ordinary services only. Section 733.6171(4) separately lists services that count as extraordinary, for which an attorney may receive further reasonable compensation. The list includes, among others:

• Purchase, sale, lease or encumbrance of real property, along with zoning, land use and environmental matters, under paragraph (f).
• Legal advice regarding homestead status of real property, under paragraph (i).
• Involvement in a will contest, will construction, determination of beneficiaries, contested claims, elective share proceedings and adversarial proceedings, under paragraph (a).
• Preparing the federal estate tax return, and reviewing or preparing other required returns, under paragraphs (d) and (e).
• Postmortem tax planning advice, including disclaimers and valuation issues, under paragraph (c).
• Representing the personal representative in tax audits or related proceedings, under paragraph (b).
• Advice on continuing the decedent’s business, under paragraph (g).
• Ancillary administration for out-of-state assets, under paragraph (k).
• Fiduciary, employee or attorney compensation disputes, under paragraph (j).

This is not a criticism of probate attorneys. Selling real property out of an estate is genuinely more work than filing an inventory, and the statute says so. The problem is that heirs are quoted the ordinary-services number, assume it is the whole bill, and then feel ambushed.

So ask the question directly before you hire anyone. Which parts of my case do you expect to bill as extraordinary services, and roughly what will those add?

Line 5: Publication, Bond and Certified Copies

The small lines, which still add up.

Publication of the notice to creditors

Section 733.2121 requires the notice to creditors to be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper published in the county where the estate is administered, or a newspaper of general circulation in that county if none is published there. The statute does not set a price. Rates come from the newspaper, so ask the attorney or the clerk which publications are used locally and what they currently charge.

The same section requires the personal representative to make a diligent search for reasonably ascertainable creditors and serve them individually. Impracticable and extended searches are not required.

Bond

Under section 733.402, a bond is generally required of a fiduciary granted letters unless the will waives it or the court does. An interested person can petition, or the court can act on its own, to waive it, require it, or increase or decrease it. The statute leaves the amount to the court and sets no formula.

Practical effect: a well-drafted will usually waives bond and the line disappears. Without that waiver, a surety premium becomes a real cost, so check the will for the waiver early.

Certified copies and recording

You will need certified copies of the letters of administration, and more of them than you expect, since banks and title companies each want their own. Orders affecting real property also have to be recorded in the county where the property sits. Individually these are small. Together they are a few hundred dollars on a typical case.

Three Worked Examples

All figures below use the statutory presumptions and the Broward published filing fee. They exclude publication, bond, recording, certified copies and any extraordinary services.

	A: $150,000 estate	B: $400,000 estate	C: $800,000 estate
Court filing fee, formal	$401	$401	$401
Attorney, ordinary services	$4,500	$12,000	$24,000
Subtotal if commission waived	$4,901	$12,401	$24,401
PR commission if taken	$4,500	$12,000	$24,000
Total with commission	$9,401	$24,401	$48,401
Total as share of estate	6.3%	6.1%	6.1%

Example A is worth a second look. A $150,000 estate where the death occurred on or after July 1, 2026 may not need formal administration at all, which changes the entire column. More on that next.

What Summary Administration Saves You

The cheapest probate is the one you do not run.

Under CS/HB 1337, chapter 2026-57, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 2026, an estate qualifies for summary administration when the value subject to administration in Florida, minus property exempt from creditor claims, does not exceed $150,000. The old ceiling was $75,000. The new limit applies to deaths on or after July 1, 2026. Summary administration is also available at any value when the person has been dead more than two years.

The cost difference is structural, not incremental.

	Formal administration	Summary administration
Broward filing fee	$401	$346
Attorney fee basis	Statutory schedule, § 733.6171(3)	Usually a negotiated flat fee
Personal representative commission	3% presumed on first $1 million	No PR appointed, so none
Creditor publication	Required	Handled differently, often lighter
Typical duration	Six to twelve months	Weeks to about two months

Removing the commission alone takes thousands off a modest estate. On Example A above, that is $4,500 that stays with the family.

A lot of published guidance, including consumer material families rely on, still quotes the old $75,000 figure. If someone sized up your estate against that number, it is worth asking again.

The Cost That Never Appears on an Invoice

Every figure above is a professional fee. None of them is what the house costs you while the case runs.

For six to twelve months, somebody is paying:

• Property taxes, which do not pause for a death.
• Insurance, and this is the sharp edge. Many carriers treat a vacant property differently from an occupied one, and a policy written for the person who died may not respond the way the family assumes.
• Electricity, because in South Florida a closed house with no air moving develops a humidity problem that becomes a repair bill.
• Lawn and pool service, or a code violation from the city.
• HOA or condo assessments, which keep accruing and have to be reconciled through an estoppel letter before title moves.

On a Broward house, that bundle is a meaningful monthly number, and it runs for the full length of the case. Nobody quotes it, because nobody bills for it. It still comes out of the family’s pocket.

Jeff Leighton, writing about probate property, notes that the overwhelming majority of people in probate sell the house within a year, and that the sale can happen as soon as the personal representative is appointed rather than waiting for the case to close. That second point is the one that saves money. The carrying clock and the probate clock do not have to run the same length.

When the Estate Has a House But No Cash

This is the most common hard case in South Florida probate, and it deserves its own section.

The estate owns a $400,000 house. The bank account has $900 in it. Court fees, publication, insurance and taxes are all due now, and the only asset is a building that cannot be spent.

What usually happens, in rough order:

1. The attorney agrees to be paid from the estate at closing rather than up front. Fees in a formal administration generally come from estate assets, not an heir’s personal funds, so this is normal rather than a favor.
2. One heir fronts the filing fee and the insurance out of pocket, and is reimbursed from the estate later. Document this in writing the day it happens.
3. The personal representative obtains authority to sell, and the house is sold while the case is still open.
4. At closing, the title company pays the liens, the fees and the costs from the proceeds, and the remainder flows to the estate for distribution.

The thing to avoid is the fifth option nobody plans for, which is doing nothing for a year while the carrying costs eat the equity and a code violation or a lapsed policy turns a solvable estate into an expensive one.

Your Options, Including the Ones That Do Not Involve Us

• Hire a Florida probate attorney and ask for a written fee agreement that separates ordinary from extraordinary services. If the estate has cash and the heirs agree, this is the cleanest path and the fees come from the estate.
• Check whether you need probate at all. Assets with a joint owner or a living named beneficiary pass outside it, and that costs nothing.
• Ask specifically about summary administration under the $150,000 limit. It is the single largest cost lever available to most families.
• If the personal representative is a family beneficiary, discuss waiving the commission. On a $400,000 estate that is a $12,000 decision.
• List the house with an agent once you have authority to sell. If it is in good condition and nobody is under time pressure, retail usually nets more than a cash offer even after commission.
• Sell as-is to a buyer who can work alongside the probate case. This fits when the house needs work, when heirs live in different states, or when nobody can carry the monthly costs.

We pay less than retail. What you get in exchange is a closing date that does not depend on a buyer’s lender, and a buyer who has been through Broward and Miami-Dade probate closings before. If listing or simply waiting serves your family better, we will say so.

What To Do This Week

1. Find the date of death. It decides which summary administration limit applies to you.
2. Add up the Florida assets subject to administration, excluding exempt property, and run them against the schedules above.
3. Read the will for a bond waiver. It is one sentence and it can remove a whole line item.
4. Ask any attorney you interview which parts of your case will be billed as extraordinary services under section 733.6171(4), and get the answer in writing.
5. Price the monthly carrying cost of the house. Taxes, insurance, power, lawn and any HOA. That number is your real deadline.

Conclusion

Florida probate is priced in the statute, which makes it unusually easy to estimate. Attorney fees for ordinary services, the personal representative’s commission, and a filing fee of a few hundred dollars together come to about 6 percent of the estate on a formal administration.

The two numbers that move that total are the ones people miss. Selling real property and advising on homestead are both extraordinary services under section 733.6171(4), billed separately, and they describe the most common probate task in South Florida. On the other side, qualifying for summary administration removes the commission entirely and replaces the schedule with a flat fee.

And no invoice will ever show you what the house cost you while you waited. Price that yourself, early, because it is usually the largest number on the page.