Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: Massachusetts charges $375.00 to petition for formal or informal probate, plus a $15.00 surcharge, for $390.00 total statewide.
If a trust could save your estate this fee in Massachusetts
A living trust avoids probate entirely in Massachusetts, which means the estate skips the $375.00 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 Massachusetts charges to open probate
This is a flat fee in Massachusetts: $375.00 is what it costs whether the estate is worth $40,000 or $4,000,000.
| Petition for probate of will / appointment | $375.00 |
| Surcharge | $15.00 |
| Total to open the estate | $390.00 |
Where this money goes and who sets it
The authority for this figure is M.G.L. c. 262, § 40 (base fee); c. 262, § 4C (surcharge). In the source’s own words: “Formal Probate of Will, Adjudication of Intestacy and Appointment of Personal Representative, Petition $375 $15”
What this fee doesn’t cover
Because Massachusetts’s fee is flat, it doesn’t rise as the estate grows, but it also doesn’t shrink for a small, simple estate the way a percentage-based state’s fee would. 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: M.G.L. c. 262, § 40 (base fee); c. 262, § 4C (surcharge).