Voted Best Financial Service Company By Black Twin Cities Magazine

The Cost of Probate

As one legal scholar so aptly put it, "The legal costs of Probate expands to consume the money available." Although this was most certainly said with tongue in cheek, the remark was intended to encourage the legal profession to reform a system that has become shamefully excessive.

Some states have statutory limits to what fees can be charged, and other states leave this task to self-regulation within the legal profession. Additional excessive extraordinary fees are often requested by attorneys and allowed by the court. Overall, it is not unusual to see total Probate fees fluctuate between 8% and 15% of the gross market value of all assets in the Estate. Yes, we said GROSS! Probate does not take debt into consideration when it calculates its fees. For example: You can own a $200,000 home and owe a mortgage of $150,000, holding $50,000 in equity. Probate will assess fees based on the entire $200,000, or a likely Probate fee of $20,000 to $30,000 just on the home! And once you are into the Probate process there is no turning back. It must run its course, and while it is grinding on, the heirs have absolutely no access to the assets or property in the estate, except through the rare compassion of the Probate court. If you own property in more than one state that property must go through Probate in all states where you own property if its value is above that states probate limits.