Florida Probate Attorney Fee Calculator

How this calculator works

The attorney who represents the personal representative — the executor of a Florida formal-administration probate proceeding under Chapter 733 — is entitled to reasonable compensation under F.S. § 733.6171. This is a separate compensation from the personal representative's own fee under F.S. § 733.617, governed by a separate statute, computed on a separate schedule. Both fees are paid from the same estate and both reduce what ultimately distributes to the beneficiaries, but they are calculated independently. This calculator applies the § 733.6171(3) schedule to the compensable value of the probate inventory and surfaces the layered band-and-tier math so you can see exactly where each dollar of fee comes from.

The four headline outputs:

1. Statutory attorney fee under F.S. § 733.6171(3). The number a court will approve absent a showing that the presumption should be rebutted.
2. Extraordinary services add-on under F.S. § 733.6171(4). User-entered planning estimate for court-discretionary additional compensation.
3. Total attorney compensation — statutory fee plus extraordinary add-on. Shared among co-counsel under § 733.6171(8), not multiplied.
4. Effective rate of the statutory fee as a percentage of compensable value. A single-number sanity check that should land between 1% (largest estates) and roughly 3.75% (smallest estates that just clear the flat-fee bands).

Distinct from the personal representative's compensation

The single most-misunderstood point in Florida probate is that the PR's fee and the attorney's fee are TWO separate compensations under TWO separate statutes:

• F.S. § 733.617 governs the personal representative's compensation. The schedule is purely percentage-based from dollar one: 3% on the first $1M, 2.5% on the next $4M, 2% on the next $5M, 1.5% above $10M. See the Florida Personal Representative Compensation Calculator on this site.
• F.S. § 733.6171 governs the attorney's compensation. The schedule has flat-fee bands on the first three tiers ($1,500 / $2,250 / $3,000 on estates up to $40K / $70K / $100K) and only adds percentage tiers above $100,000.

Both fees are paid from the estate. A Florida-licensed attorney who serves as PR may collect BOTH the PR fee under § 733.617 AND the attorney fee under § 733.6171, though that practice draws heightened scrutiny on fee petitions. The two statutes have remained structurally distinct since the 2006 Florida Trust Code modernization.

The F.S. § 733.6171(3) attorney fee schedule

Flat-fee bands (estates at or below $100,000)

The first three tiers are FLAT-FEE bands, not percentage tiers:

• Up to $40,000 of compensable value: $1,500 minimum fee. An estate at $5,000 pays the same fee as an estate at $39,999.
• $40,000 to $70,000: $2,250 flat fee (the statute reads as "$1,500 + an additional $750").
• $70,000 to $100,000: $3,000 flat fee (the statute reads as "$2,250 + an additional $750").

Percentage tiers (estates above $100,000)

For estates above $100,000 of compensable value, the $3,000 base from the third flat band is preserved and percentage tiers layer on top, applied marginally to the slice of compensable value within each tier:

• 3% of the next $900,000 (compensable value from $100K to $1M)
• 2.5% of the next $2,000,000 ($1M to $3M)
• 2% of the next $2,000,000 ($3M to $5M)
• 1.5% of the next $5,000,000 ($5M to $10M)
• 1% of compensable value above $10,000,000

The cumulative landmarks the calculator hits at each tier boundary:

• At $100,000: $3,000 (still in the third flat band).
• At $1,000,000: $3,000 + 3% × $900,000 = $30,000.
• At $3,000,000: $30,000 + 2.5% × $2,000,000 = $80,000.
• At $5,000,000: $80,000 + 2% × $2,000,000 = $120,000.
• At $10,000,000: $120,000 + 1.5% × $5,000,000 = $195,000.
• Each additional $1M above $10M adds $10,000 (1%).

Compare to the PR schedule: at $10M the PR fee is $230,000 and the attorney fee is $195,000. The two schedules track loosely but diverge — the attorney schedule's smaller top-tier rate (1% vs. the PR's 1.5%) reflects a legislative judgment that legal work scales sub-linearly with estate size.

Worked example one: $500,000 estate

A Florida decedent dies leaving a $500,000 gross estate, all in individually-titled bank and brokerage accounts and personal property (no funded trust, no JTWROS, no out-of-state real estate). The full $500,000 is compensable. Walking the schedule:

• The estate is above $100,000, so the flat bands do not apply. Start at the $3,000 base.
• Tier 1 percentage tier: 3% × ($500,000 − $100,000) = 3% × $400,000 = $12,000.
• Statutory attorney fee: $3,000 + $12,000 = $15,000.
• Effective rate: $15,000 / $500,000 = 3.00%.

The same family with $500,000 of compensable value also generates a PR fee under § 733.617 of $15,000 (3% × $500,000). Combined fiduciary drag: $30,000, or 6% of the estate.

Worked example two: $2,000,000 estate

A Florida decedent dies leaving $2,000,000 of compensable value (gross estate minus non-probate exclusions). Walking the schedule:

• $3,000 base.
• 3% × $900,000 (from $100K to $1M) = $27,000.
• 2.5% × $1,000,000 (from $1M to $2M, partial tier 2) = $25,000.
• Statutory attorney fee: $3,000 + $27,000 + $25,000 = $55,000.
• Effective rate: $55,000 / $2,000,000 = 2.75%.

The same estate under § 733.617 generates a PR fee of $30,000 + 2.5% × $1,000,000 = $55,000. Combined drag: $110,000, or 5.5%.

If the same family's $2,000,000 had instead been held entirely in a funded revocable living trust during life, the compensable probate value would be $0, the attorney fee under § 733.6171 would be $0, and the PR fee under § 733.617 would also be $0. The trustee's compensation under F.S. § 736.0708 (a separate "reasonable compensation" analysis) would apply to the trust, but that fee is typically a fraction of the combined probate drag. Trust funding during life is the single most economically significant decision in Florida estate planning above the $1M threshold.

Worked example three: $50,000 small estate

A Florida decedent dies leaving $50,000 of compensable value. Because the estate falls in the second flat band ($40K to $70K), the attorney fee is the flat $2,250 under § 733.6171(3) — regardless of whether the actual administration is simple or complex on the facts. An estate at $45,000 pays the same $2,250 as an estate at $69,999.

A $25,000 estate falls in the first flat band and pays the $1,500 minimum. An $80,000 estate falls in the third flat band and pays the flat $3,000.

For these smallest estates, the flat bands effectively function as a minimum-engagement-fee floor. The statute's drafters recognized that the legal work to open formal administration, give notice to creditors, satisfy creditor claims, file the inventory, prepare the petition for discharge, and obtain the order of discharge does not meaningfully shrink below a certain threshold — so the schedule sets a flat floor rather than a percentage that would produce nominal compensation on tiny estates. In practice, many small estates qualify for summary administration under F.S. § 735.201, which has no statutory attorney fee schedule at all and where the attorney fee is set by separate engagement agreement.

Multiple attorneys: a single shared fee

F.S. § 733.6171(8) is unambiguous: when more than one attorney represents the personal representative, they are entitled together to a single compensation under the (3) schedule. The fee is shared, not multiplied. Co-counsel on a $2M Florida probate collect $55,000 between them under the schedule — they do not each collect $55,000.

The court has authority under § 733.6171(8) to award separate compensation to each attorney if "the services rendered justify it." That ruling is fact-specific and typically requires a formal allocation of responsibility — general probate counsel handles ordinary administration while specialty counsel handles an extraordinary engagement like a will contest, a tax controversy, or ancillary administration in another state. The default rule produces a single shared fee that co-counsel allocate between themselves under their fee-sharing agreement.

Will provisions can reduce the fee — but not require an attorney to serve

F.S. § 733.6171(3) authorizes a decedent to direct in the will that a Florida-licensed attorney serve at a fee LOWER than the statutory schedule. The override binds the named attorney IF the attorney accepts the engagement, and binds any successor unless the successor disclaims under the statute. The will direction cannot REQUIRE a particular attorney to serve and cannot bind an attorney who has not accepted the engagement.

A will direction to pay MORE than the statutory schedule is generally treated as a precatory request rather than a binding term — the fee paid is still constrained by the reasonableness analysis under § 733.6171(5). The Florida Bar's position is that an attorney cannot accept a fee in excess of what is reasonable on the facts, regardless of what the testator may have wished.

Separately, § 733.6171(2) allows the PR and the attorney to agree by written engagement letter to a different fee arrangement (typically hourly billing, or a flat fee that differs from the schedule). The (2) agreement binds the PR and attorney inter se, subject to interested persons' right to challenge the agreed fee as unreasonable under § 733.6171(5).

Reasonableness is a rebuttable presumption — the Lankford factors

F.S. § 733.6171(5) makes the (3) schedule a rebuttable presumption, not a fixed cap or floor. Interested persons (any beneficiary, creditor, or co-fiduciary) can petition the court to deviate upward or downward by rebutting the presumption with evidence about the work actually performed. The reasonableness factors come from Florida Bar Rule 4-1.5 and the leading Florida case Lankford v. Wright, 347 So. 2d 477 (Fla. 4th DCA 1977):

1. Time and labor required.
2. Novelty and difficulty of the questions.
3. Skill required to perform the legal services properly.
4. Likelihood that acceptance of the engagement precluded other employment.
5. Customary fee in the locality for similar work.
6. Amount involved and results obtained.
7. Time limitations imposed by the client or the circumstances.
8. Nature and length of the professional relationship.
9. Experience, reputation, diligence, and ability of the attorney.
10. Whether the fee is fixed or contingent.

Common bases to argue downward deviation: the estate was administratively simple, the attorney delegated most substantive work to paralegals billed separately, the work product was deficient, or the schedule produces a windfall on the facts. Common bases to argue upward deviation: the attorney personally performed work that would ordinarily be done by support staff, the engagement required extraordinary expertise the schedule does not credit, or the results obtained were exceptional.

In practice, most uncontested fee petitions are approved at the statutory amount. Contested petitions — typically arising when residuary beneficiaries challenge a fee on a smaller-than-expected residue — push the analysis into Lankford territory and are heavily fact-dependent.

Extraordinary services under § 733.6171(4)

F.S. § 733.6171(4) authorizes additional court-discretionary compensation for work that goes beyond ordinary administration. The statute enumerates the categories:

• Involvement in a will contest, will construction proceeding, or determination of beneficiaries.
• Representation of the PR in audits, tax-deficiency proceedings, or other tax-related litigation.
• Preparation of the estate's federal estate tax return (Form 706) or fiduciary income tax return (Form 1041).
• Legal advice regarding the homestead status of real property and proceedings to determine homestead.
• Involvement in elective-share proceedings under F.S. § 732.201 et seq., exempt-property proceedings, or family-allowance proceedings.
• Conducting ancillary administration in another state for a Florida domiciliary's out-of-state real property.
• Sale of real or personal property of the estate.
• Conducting litigation by or against the estate.
• Carrying on the decedent's business or profession.
• Advising on protection of the estate from claims of creditors.

The amount is court-discretionary on a reasonable-compensation basis and is typically supported by detailed time records and a separate fee petition. Uncontested ordinary administrations have zero extraordinary services. Contested estates, taxable estates, or estates with operating business interests can see extraordinary-services fees that exceed the underlying statutory schedule.

Common errors

• Treating the gross estate as the fee base. The schedule runs against compensable value, not gross estate. Funded revocable trust property, JTWROS, TOD/POD, named-beneficiary retirement, life insurance, and out-of-Florida real property are all excluded.
• Forgetting trust exclusions on a heavily-funded estate. The most common error in fee-petition review is failing to subtract the funded trust value from the gross estate to arrive at the proper compensable base.
• Multiplying the fee by the number of co-counsel. F.S. § 733.6171(8) is explicit: co-counsel share a single fee under the default rule.
• Confusing attorney compensation with PR compensation. Different statutes, different schedules, different cumulative landmarks. Both run against the same estate.
• Treating the flat bands as percentage tiers. Below $100,000 the fee does not scale with estate size — it is flat. An estate at $20,000 pays the same $1,500 as an estate at $39,999.
• Ignoring the will override. § 733.6171(3) authorizes the decedent to direct a lower fee for a Florida-licensed attorney. Always check the will before applying the schedule.

How this page is maintained

The substantive statutory framework — F.S. § 733.6171 and its subsections — has been stable since the Florida Trust Code modernization carried the attorney-compensation schedule into a separate section in 2006. The schedule's landmark amounts ($1,500 / $2,250 / $3,000 / 3% / 2.5% / 2% / 1.5% / 1%) have not changed since. We monitor each Florida legislative session for any change to Chapter 733 and refresh this page within the quarter after a material amendment.

Last reviewed: 2026-05-15 against F.S. § 733.6171 (including subsections (2), (3), (4), (5), and (8)).