Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: Cook County, Illinois’s most populous, charges $479.00 flat to open probate, whether the estate has a will or not.
If a trust could save your estate this fee in Illinois
A living trust avoids probate entirely in Illinois, which means the estate skips the $479.00 above along with every other cost the court charges once a case is open. LawDepot builds a state-specific one.
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What Illinois charges to open probate
Illinois sets no single statewide figure for this fee; each county’s probate court sets its own schedule, so the exact amount depends on where the estate is opened.
| Letters of administration, no will (Cook County) | $479.00 |
| Letters of office, with a will (Cook County) | $479.00 |
| State-law cap in counties over 3,000,000 population | $366.00 base |
Illinois law caps the fee by county-population tier and lets each county board set the exact amount by ordinance; Cook County (Chicago) is the largest-county example.
Where this money goes and who sets it
The authority for this figure is 705 ILCS 105/27.1b (statutory cap/framework); Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Probate Division. In the source’s own words: “The cost for filing is $479.00.”
What this fee doesn’t cover
Because Illinois leaves this to each county, the same estate could cost more or less to open depending on which county courthouse handles it. Either way, this is the court’s own charge just to open the file and issue letters, separate from what an attorney charges to actually handle the estate and separate from any state estate or inheritance tax the estate itself might owe.
Sources
Source: 705 ILCS 105/27.1b (statutory cap/framework); Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Probate Division.