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California personal representative compensation

California executor fee calculator

Prob. Code § 10800 sets statutory (ordinary) compensation as 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, 1% of the next $9,000,000, and 0.5% of the next $15,000,000. Above $25,000,000 the amount is 'a reasonable amount to be determined by the court' — so the top band is NOT a fixed percentage. The base is 'the value of the estate accounted for' (appraisal value plus gains on sales plus receipts, less losses, without regard to encumbrances).

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

1. Where and when
Private by design: entries stay in this browser.
2. Compensation base

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

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Your working estimate

California estate snapshot

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeSet locallyGovernment Code § 70650 sets a uniform statewide filing fee of $355 for the first petition for letters of administration or letters testamentary. Additional local surcharges may apply in some counties, but the base opening fee is a fixed statewide figure.
Scheduled executor compensationCase accounting neededEnter the compensable value above and this schedule is applied to it, band by band.Prob. Code § 10800 sets statutory (ordinary) compensation as 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, 1% of the next $9,000,000, and 0.5% of the next $15,000,000. Above $25,000,000 the amount is 'a reasonable amount to be determined by the court' — so the top band is NOT a fixed percentage. The base is 'the value of the estate accounted for' (appraisal value plus gains on sales plus receipts, less losses, without regard to encumbrances).

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

How California executor compensation works

In California, the personal representative (executor) is the person the court appoints, or the will nominates, to administer the estate. California compensation is governed by state statute and, where the statute permits, by the terms of the will or a court order, so the lawful California fee is whatever those authorities set — not a national rule of thumb.

The calculator above applies California's reviewed statutory rule to the compensable estate value you enter. The California figure does not include extraordinary fees — services beyond routine administration (such as litigation, tax elections, or real-property management) that the court may approve separately on top of the ordinary compensation.

In California, the compensable amount is measured against the figures shown in the estate's court accounting, so two California estates with the same headline size can produce different lawful fees when what they are made of differs. Enter the figure that matches that basis rather than the gross number on the first account statement, or the California result will not reflect the rule the statute actually applies.

If the California will names a specific compensation amount or formula, that term controls unless a beneficiary or the representative petitions the court for modification. When no will exists, or the will is silent on the point, the California statutory rule becomes the presumptive measure of reasonable compensation for the work.

California compensation map

Which figure the California fee rule actually measures

A percentage is not a fee answer until its base is known. This California map identifies the compensation standard and the accounting figure it uses, while keeping court approval and extraordinary work outside an invented total.

QuestionRecorded California answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Affidavit for collection of personal property (Prob. Code § 13100) and, for real property, the § 13200 small-value affidavit and § 13150 petition to determine successionConfirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?probate property within the rule's stated scope; gross value for this route.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?40 days after death; Multiple independent deadlines run from different triggers: § 9100 requires filing before the LATER of four months after letters first issue OR sixty days after notice of administration is mailed/delivered, and Code Civ. Proc. § 366.2 imposes a separate one-year outer limit measured from death. These are expressed in months, so a single day count would mislead.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?$355 is the recorded statewide amount.Ask the Superior Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?Prob. Code § 10800 sets statutory (ordinary) compensation as 4% of the first $100,000, 3% of the next $100,000, 2% of the next $800,000, 1% of the next $9,000,000, and 0.5% of the next $15,000,000. Above $25,000,000 the amount is 'a reasonable amount to be determined by the court' — so the top band is NOT a fixed percentage. The base is 'the value of the estate accounted for' (appraisal value plus gains on sales plus receipts, less losses, without regard to encumbrances). The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Compensation record

The California fee record, band by band

This is the registry view of the compensation rule, separate from the calculator result. It shows whether a rate schedule exists and what accounting base the schedule names. A blank band is not permission to borrow a percentage from another state.

Compensation bandRateRead with
Up to $100,0004%the estate accounting
The next band through $200,0003%the estate accounting
The next band through $1,000,0002%the estate accounting
The next band through $10,000,0001%the estate accounting
The next band through $25,000,0000.5%the estate accounting

Case-file context

Keep the California answer with its neighboring conditions

A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed California descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.

Route context

California probate is handled by the Superior Court in the county where the decedent lived. Small estates can often skip formal probate using the Probate Code § 13100 affidavit; the dollar thresholds are adjusted every three years under § 890 and published by date of death on Judicial Council form DE-300 ($208,850 for the § 13100 affidavit for deaths on or after April 1, 2025).

Personal property may be collected by affidavit if 40 days have elapsed since death and the gross value of the decedent's real and personal property in California does not exceed the amount published on Judicial Council mandatory-use form DE-300 for the decedent's date of death (Prob. Code § 890 directs these amounts to be adjusted every three years). For deaths on or after April 1, 2025 that ceiling is $208,850 (deaths April 1, 2022-March 31, 2025 use $184,500; the codified § 13100 figure of $166,250 is a pre-2022 baseline that § 890 adjustments have superseded). Excludes § 13050 property and property covered by a § 13151 petition. Real property of small value uses the § 13200 affidavit ($69,625 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025); a primary residence up to $750,000 uses the § 13151 succession petition.

Cost context

Government Code § 70650 sets a uniform statewide filing fee of $355 for the first petition for letters of administration or letters testamentary. Additional local surcharges may apply in some counties, but the base opening fee is a fixed statewide figure.

$355 is the recorded statewide amount.

Deadline context

Multiple independent deadlines run from different triggers: § 9100 requires filing before the LATER of four months after letters first issue OR sixty days after notice of administration is mailed/delivered, and Code Civ. Proc. § 366.2 imposes a separate one-year outer limit measured from death. These are expressed in months, so a single day count would mislead.

  • Above the highest banded amount the statute sets no percentage; the court fixes a reasonable figure, so the schedule here stops where the published rates stop.
  • California's small-estate dollar limits are set by the decedent's DATE OF DEATH under Prob. Code § 890, not a single timeless figure. Judicial Council mandatory-use form DE-300 (Rev. April 28, 2025) publishes the operative amounts: for the § 13100 personal-property affidavit, deaths on or after April 1, 2025 use $208,850; deaths from April 1, 2022 through March 31, 2025 use $184,500; deaths before April 1, 2022 use the older codified figures. The next triennial adjustment is April 1, 2028.

Court-material note: California uses statewide Judicial Council (DE-series) probate forms; each county Superior Court also publishes local rules and any local fee surcharges.

Arithmetic illustration

See the California amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded California ceiling is $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $156,600 sits below the California figure and $261,100 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what California counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the California ceilingWhat it does not decide
$156,600Below $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$261,100Above $208,850 for deaths on or after April 1, 2025Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Bring the stated accounting base and the will or court instructions to the compensation discussion.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

California uses statewide Judicial Council (DE-series) probate forms; each county Superior Court also publishes local rules and any local fee surcharges.

Source trail

Records used by this California map

The figure the California schedule is applied to

The rate is only half of the answer; the other half is the number the rate is applied to, and in California that number is specific. The reviewed rule measures compensation against the value of the estate accounted for. § 10800(b): total appraisal value of inventory property, plus gains over appraisal on sales, plus receipts, less losses; encumbrances are not deducted.

Entering a different figure — the gross value on a bank statement, the net estate after debts, or the total that passed to the heirs — produces a California number the rule does not support, even when the percentage is applied correctly. The base is the part most often got wrong.

How the California schedule composes, worked through

Each band applies its own rate to its own slice of the value of the estate accounted for, and the compensation is the sum of the slices — not a single rate on the whole figure. Worked at two representative amounts, the California schedule breaks down as follows.

$300,000 value of the estate accounted for
Band of the baseRateCompensation
on the first $100,0004%$4,000
on the next $100,0003%$3,000
on the next $800,0002%$2,000
Total on this base$9,000
$800,000 value of the estate accounted for
Band of the baseRateCompensation
on the first $100,0004%$4,000
on the next $100,0003%$3,000
on the next $800,0002%$12,000
Total on this base$19,000

These figures are illustrations of the schedule at two round numbers, not a quote for any real estate: the operative amount depends on the actual value of the estate accounted for the California accounting establishes, and a court may allow more for extraordinary services or less where a will or agreement fixes a different figure.

Compensation source

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.

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