Publication
Newspaper pricing is commercial rather than a statewide fee.
Minnesota court costs
Minnesota probate filing cost: $310
Section 357.021, subdivision 2, charges a $310 first-paper fee to the petitioner or moving party in every district-court civil action or proceeding. County law-library charges and service, publication, copy, and bond costs are outside this statutory base.
$310 is the amount the statute states. Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
What the statute charges
Every line below is computed from the statutory schedule quoted at the end of this page. These are court charges only. They are not an estimate of the total cost of settling an estate.
First filing by petitioner in a district-court civil proceeding
| Charge | $25,000 estate | $100,000 estate | $400,000 estate | $1,000,000 estate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide first-paper fee | $310 | $310 | $310 | $310 |
| Total from this schedule | $310 | $310 | $310 | $310 |
Not included in this total
- County law-library fee
- Publication, certified copies, service, and bond costs
The affidavit route is ordinarily presented to the property holder rather than filed to open a probate case.
Source: Minn. Stat. § 357.021, subd. 2(1), Minnesota Revisor of Statutes. Edition/currentness: This section has been affected by law enacted during the 2026 Regular Session.. Verified September 15, 2026.
What the $310 is made of
Minnesota’s $310 figure is a single statutory charge, not a total assembled from parts. It is shown here with its own provision named, and with the neighbouring charges the Minnesota schedule prices separately — the ones a filer is most likely to add to it by mistake, or to be quoted alongside it.
- $310First-paper filing fee
Added together, these come to $310 — the figure this page headlines. If any component changed in the source, the sum would no longer match, and the build withholds the total rather than publishing a number whose parts no longer add up.
Charges the $310 figure leaves out
These amounts appear in or beside the same Minnesota schedule, so a reader can easily mistake one for part of the fee. Each is held out of the figure above for the specific reason given, which is the difference between an honest total and an inflated one.
A fee for a different filing
- Marriage-dissolution filing fee
- the $340 applies only to marriage-dissolution actions, a different proceeding.
- First-paper fee for the responding/adverse party, Minn. Stat. s 357.021 subd. 2(1)
- the second $310 is the identical first-paper fee owed by the defendant or other adverse/intervening party, not an additional charge layered on the petitioner's filing fee this product prices.
Costs no statute prices
These are the costs executors most often meet after the filing fee. None of them has a statewide statutory amount, so this site does not estimate them.
Bond
Premiums depend on the bond amount, the estate, and the applicant.
Copies and local charges
Certified copies, recording, inventory, accounting, and county surcharges are billed separately.
Professional fees
Attorney, accountant, and appraiser fees are negotiated or court-reviewed.
State-specific limits
- The $310 statute does not price county law-library charges or other case-specific costs.
- Direct Minnesota Judicial Branch resource URLs were machine-blocked with HTTP 403.
Use this as a starting point.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
How to verify the amount for this case
Name the proceeding before asking for a total. A small-estate affidavit, an application for letters, formal administration, a later inventory or account, and a certified copy can each carry a different charge. Asking only “what does probate cost?” invites an answer for the wrong filing.
- Identify the county where the proceeding will be filed.
- Identify the exact route or petition you expect to use.
- State the value basis the schedule uses; it is not always the gross estate value.
- Ask the clerk to separate the opening fee, mandatory surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
- Record the schedule date or rule cited.
- Record whether payment is due at filing.
Keep that clerk quote with the estate record and compare it with the itemised statutory lines above. For the broader budget, use the probate cost-line guide; court filing is only one category.
Minnesota filing-cost map
Separate the Minnesota filing charge from the estate budget
The Minnesota filing record prices a proceeding, not every cost of settling an estate. This map connects the published amount or schedule to its value basis and identifies the local items that still need a clerk or court schedule.
| Question | Recorded Minnesota answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Collection of personal property by affidavit | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | personal probate property only; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $75,000 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; Multiple independent deadlines run from first publication, individual service, claim accrual, and death, so one days value 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? | $310 is the recorded statewide amount. | Ask the District Court about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation. A will provision may be renounced before qualifying; the court considers time and labor, complexity and novelty, responsibilities, and results. The section states no percentage schedule or separate extraordinary-services rate. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Filing record
What the Minnesota cost record can answer
First filing by petitioner in a district-court civil proceeding
Basis: estate-value. Status: operative. The affidavit route is ordinarily presented to the property holder rather than filed to open a probate case.
- Statewide first-paper fee $310
Case-file context
Keep the Minnesota 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 Minnesota 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
Minnesota’s affidavit route collects qualifying personal property without a personal representative appointment; probate proceedings themselves are in District Court.
Thirty days after death, a successor may use the affidavit to collect personal property when the entire probate estate, wherever located and less liens and encumbrances, is $75,000 or less. The value test counts the entire probate estate even though the transfer mechanism collects personal property; no appointment application or petition may be pending or granted.
Compensation context
A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation. A will provision may be renounced before qualifying; the court considers time and labor, complexity and novelty, responsibilities, and results. The section states no percentage schedule or separate extraordinary-services rate.
A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation. A will provision may be renounced before qualifying; the court considers time and labor, complexity and novelty, responsibilities, and results. The section states no percentage schedule or separate extraordinary-services rate. The relevant base is the estate accounting.
Deadline context
Multiple independent deadlines run from first publication, individual service, claim accrual, and death, so one days value would mislead.
- The $310 statute does not price county law-library charges or other case-specific costs.
- Direct Minnesota Judicial Branch resource URLs were machine-blocked with HTTP 403.
Court-material note: The Minnesota Judicial Branch mncourts.gov probate, forms, fee, and Find Courts pages returned HTTP 403 to automated verification on 2026-08-09, so they are not listed as verified resources. The Minnesota State Law Library’s official probate guide and forms guide returned HTTP 200. Minnesota's official court forms and probate help live at mncourts.gov, which refuses automated requests, so no Minnesota court link is published here rather than substituting a copy hosted by a third party. Search mncourts.gov directly for probate forms.
Arithmetic illustration
See the Minnesota amount screen without mistaking it for a result
The recorded Minnesota ceiling is $75,000, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $56,300 sits below the Minnesota figure and $93,800 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 Minnesota counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Minnesota ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $56,300 | Below $75,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $93,800 | Above $75,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Name the proceeding and ask for mandatory surcharges, copies, publication, and later filings separately.
- Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
- Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
- Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
- Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.
Official material
Minnesota publishes no court artifact in this registry. The Minnesota Judicial Branch mncourts.gov probate, forms, fee, and Find Courts pages returned HTTP 403 to automated verification on 2026-08-09, so they are not listed as verified resources.
The Minnesota Judicial Branch mncourts.gov probate, forms, fee, and Find Courts pages returned HTTP 403 to automated verification on 2026-08-09, so they are not listed as verified resources.
The Minnesota State Law Library’s official probate guide and forms guide returned HTTP 200.
Source trail
Records used by this Minnesota map
- Minn. Stat. § 524.3-1201Minnesota Statutes, Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit; reviewed August 9, 2026
- Minn. Stat. § 357.021, subd. 2(1)Minnesota Statutes, District Court Fees; reviewed August 9, 2026
- Minn. Stat. § 524.3-719Minnesota Statutes, Compensation of Personal Representative; reviewed August 9, 2026
- Minn. Stat. § 524.3-801Minnesota Statutes, Notice to Creditors; reviewed August 9, 2026
- Minn. Stat. § 524.3-803Minnesota Statutes, Limitations on Presentation of Claims; reviewed August 9, 2026
Filing-cost source
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Minn. Stat. § 357.021, subd. 2(1)
Reviewed source note: Subd. 2. Fee amounts. The fees to be charged and collected by the court administrator shall be as follows: (1) In every civil action or proceeding in said court, including any case arising under the tax laws of the state that could be transferred or appealed to the Tax Court, the plaintiff, petitioner, or other moving party shall pay, when the first paper is filed for that party in said action, a fee of $310, except in marriage dissolution actions the fee is $340.
What this means: The page flags a 2026 amendment to subdivision 1a. The quoted opening-fee rule is in subdivision 2.