Probate is expensive!
Why is probate so expensive? The simple answer is, well, there's a lot of costs and expenses that go into probate. first of all, there are filing fees and depending on your jurisdiction, it can be several hundred dollars just to file a probate down at the courthouse.
Attorney fees
The next thing is, of course, attorney fees. We don't work for free. And depending on your jurisdiction, the attorney fees are probably going to make up the bulk of the probate costs. Just like I answered in the question regarding what it costs to probate, the attorney fees, costs and everything can be from $3,200 to about $7500, depending on your jurisdiction. It could be a lot more where you live. It just depends on your jurisdiction.
Publication fees
The next cost is publication fees. one thing that people don't realize when you do a probate is there has to be a lot of publication of notices in a probate. Every time there is a hearing, the judge will issue an order for notice of that hearing. That notice of hearing has to be published in the newspaper. Usually ten days prior to the hearing. Now, in a probate, there might be three or four different publications. And depending on the newspaper and how many words are in that publication, it can cost you anywhere from 90 to about 180 $190 for each individual notice. The next thing that people don't realize is during a probate.
Postage
The next thing is postage usually, especially if there is real estate during a probate, just like we had to publish those notices. We usually always send notices to beneficiaries and other interested parties by certified U.S. mail, and that is not cheap. Every single one of those notices can cost between $7 and $9, depending on where we're sending it to and how much paper we are sending to them. So there is a lot of expenses that can go into a probate that doesn't even take into account.
Real Estate and Valuables
Realtor fees, title company fees, auctioneer fees if we have to auction things off, appraisal fees is another big one that a lot of people don't realize if there's real estate involved. Then we usually have to get an appraiser involved in the case if there's personal items or artwork or cars that have some sort of value. We will usually always have to get those appraised as well, and I can tell you that that is not an inexpensive cost.
Why to avoid probate?
So there is a lot of expenses that go into probating an estate, and that's why it usually costs so expensive. Like I said in the last one, about $3,200 to about $7500 from start to finish. The simpler way and maybe the less expensive way is to get a revocable living trust centered estate plan set up so that your family avoids the probate process completely.
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Cortes Law Firm
5801 Broadway Extension Hwy Suite 110
Oklahoma City, OK, 73118
405-213-0856