What Probate Costs in Georgia Right Now
A standard Georgia estate costs an average of $14,700 to probate. The average climbs to $29,700 once the estate has a business, a rental, or land in another state. Where your family lands depends on six specific costs.
Every one of those costs comes out of the estate first, so your family does not see any money until they are paid. Court fees are due at filing, before the estate has any usable cash. A standard case takes about 13 months to close on average. A complex case takes about 25 months. For the full picture of how the process works from start to finish, see What Is Probate in Georgia.
The Six Costs That Make Up a Georgia Probate Bill
Court Filing Fees
Opening a probate case costs $100 to $300 in most Georgia counties. This fee is due at filing. Fulton, Cobb, and Gwinnett charge on the higher end of that range.
Executor Compensation
Under O.C.G.A. ยง 53-6-60, a Georgia executor is entitled to a commission of 2.5% of every dollar the estate receives, plus 2.5% of every dollar it pays out. On a $500,000 estate, that adds up to $25,000. Family members serving as executor often waive this fee. A professional or out-of-state executor almost always charges it.
Attorney Fees
Georgia probate attorneys bill three ways. Hourly rates run $350 to $450 per hour. Flat fees for routine cases run $3,000 to $8,000. Some attorneys charge a percentage of the estate instead. A routine case takes 15 to 40 hours of attorney time, so hourly billing alone can reach five figures.
Publication and Notice Costs
Georgia law requires four weeks of newspaper notice before a probate case can close. This notice runs $100 to $150. The estate also pays for certified mail to every heir and creditor.
Appraisal and Accounting Fees
Any non-cash asset needs a professional appraisal before the estate can be valued. Appraisals run $300 to $1,500 per asset. Estate accounting adds another $1,500 to $5,000, depending on how complex the estate is.
Executor Bond
Many Georgia probate courts require a surety bond before they appoint an executor. Bond premiums run $100 to $1,000 or more, scaled to the size of the estate.
Standard vs. Complex Probate: Which One Is Your Family Paying For
The gap between a $14,700 probate and a $29,700 probate comes down to one question: does the estate have anything beyond cash and a house? A business interest, a rental property, an out-of-state property, or a dispute between heirs all push an estate into the complex category. In each of these cases, the timeline averages about 25 months. Attorney fees climb well past the standard range. If an heir contests the will or challenges the executor, attorney costs commonly climb past $10,000 and the case can take significantly longer, regardless of estate size. See why Georgia probate is more expensive than you think for the specific reasons costs run higher than the average estimate.
A single out-of-state property is enough by itself to make an estate complex. Georgia probate does not cover assets titled in another state. That property needs its own separate probate case, in that state, with its own attorney and its own court fees. Nothing distributes from the Georgia estate until every one of those cases closes. If you want to bring these numbers down before you need them, see how to reduce probate costs in Georgia.
If the estate is worth $15,000 or less in personal property, Georgia’s small estate affidavit process skips formal probate entirely. See What Is a Small Estate Affidavit in Georgia for the full requirements.
What a $3,500 Funded Revocable Trust Costs Instead
A trust is not the only way to skip probate. Georgia law also lets you avoid it through beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, payable-on-death bank accounts, and property held in joint tenancy with survivorship. These work for specific assets but do not cover an entire estate the way a funded trust does. See How to Avoid Probate in Georgia for the full comparison.
A revocable living trust at The Hive Law costs a one-time flat fee of $3,500. There is no hourly billing and no percentage of your estate. Once your assets are titled into the trust, none of the six probate costs, court filing fees, executor compensation, attorney fees, publication and notice costs, appraisal and accounting fees, and the executor bond, apply to them. There is no court filing fee, no executor commission, no publication notice, and no bond, because there is no court case at all.
Your family skips the 13-month average wait and the $14,700 average cost of a standard probate. Once the paperwork is signed, your named successor trustee can distribute trust assets in 30 to 60 days. The trust swaps a variable, court-supervised cost for one fixed cost, paid a single time.
What’s Included in the $3,500 Flat Fee
The flat fee covers your revocable living trust, a pour-over will, a financial power of attorney, and a healthcare directive, plus the work of moving your assets into the trust. See the full revocable trust cost breakdown for exactly what is included.
Every asset placed in the trust is guaranteed to avoid probate. If an asset on your Funding Checkup list ends up in Georgia probate because of our error, we handle the legal work at no charge, up to $5,000 in total legal fees. Read the guarantee terms.
The fee does not cover complex or contested probate cases, business succession documents, or Medicaid planning. Those are priced separately, based on the work involved.
Is Paying $3,500 Now Worth It Compared to Probate Later
Take a $500,000 estate as an example. If it goes through a standard Georgia probate, lawyer and court fees average $14,700, before any executor’s commission. A $3,500 trust costs less than a quarter of that and removes the wait entirely. The math gets even more lopsided on a complex estate, where probate averages $29,700 and takes about 25 months.
The trade-off is timing. A trust only works if you sign and fund it before you die or lose capacity. Waiting until a health crisis hits removes that option. At that point, probate becomes the only path left for any asset that was never moved into the trust.
