Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: California sets a statutory percentage fee schedule for the probate attorney under Probate Code section 10810, and courts treat this schedule as the presumed, ordinarily payable fee for ordinary services rather than a mere ceiling to negotiate down from.
The statutory percentage schedule
Four percent on the first one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). Three percent on the next one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). Two percent on the next eight hundred thousand dollars ($800,000). One percent on the next nine million dollars ($9,000,000). One-half of 1 percent on the next fifteen million dollars ($15,000,000). For all amounts above twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000), a reasonable amount to be determined by the court.
Source: Cal. Probate Code section 10810(a)
This is the ordinary-services fee for the attorney representing the estate’s personal representative, calculated on the estate’s gross appraised value, the inventory value plus gains on sale, minus losses on sale, not the net value after debts.
The personal representative’s fee uses the identical brackets
Section 10800 grants the personal representative the same four-bracket percentage schedule as the attorney. Section 10804 lets one person collect under both schedules if they serve as both executor and attorney, but only if the court specifically approves the attorney compensation in advance.
Is it negotiable, and what falls outside it
Unlike Florida, California has no statute requiring the attorney to disclose in writing that the fee is negotiable. Extraordinary services beyond the ordinary schedule, such as litigation or tax work, require a separate court-approved additional fee under section 10811.
The executor’s commission is a different charge
The personal representative’s own commission is set by the identical percentage schedule under Probate Code section 10800, a separate charge from the attorney’s fee under section 10810. If the same person serves as both executor and attorney, section 10804 requires advance court approval before that person can collect under both schedules.
How the fee models compare across all 51 jurisdictions: probate cost by state, and the national picture on what a probate attorney costs.
Statutory text read at each state’s own legislature or official code publisher. General information, not legal advice; fee statutes change and a court retains the final say on what is reasonable.
The attorney fee above is separate from what the court itself charges just to open the case, see the California probate filing fee.