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How much does probate cost in Georgia?

Opening an estate in a Georgia probate court costs a $175 statutory base fee for the first petition under O.C.G.A. §15-9-60, which the Georgia Council of Probate Court Judges' Schedule of Costs and Fees (effective January 1, 2025) collects as a $206 total once the mandatory add-on fees are included. County schedules land close to that figure — Fulton County, the state's largest, charges $209 for the initial filing of a petition for letters of administration or to probate a will in solemn or common form. Georgia is honest about the build: the statute sets the base, four named add-on statutes stack on top, and the county publishes the collected total.

Georgia probate fees at a glance

The Council schedule explains its own arithmetic in its notes: all sums the court must collect under O.C.G.A. §§15-23-7 (alternative dispute resolution), 15-9-60.1 (Children's Trust Fund), 15-21A-6 (indigent defense — $15, charged on each estate petition) and 36-15-9 (law library) are in addition to the §15-9-60 base, and the schedule's totals column is where base and add-ons meet: $175 becomes $206 for a first petition in a decedent's estate, and $191 for later petitions such as leave to sell, waiver of bond or discharge. The schedule also states what its totals exclude — service of process and publication of citation or notice — so a Georgia filer should expect those two items on top of the $206 wherever they apply. Fulton County's own schedule, at $209 initial and $205 subsequent, shows how a large county's published total can sit a few dollars either side of the Council figure; the clerk's schedule for your county is the controlling number. The national comparison is on the probate court costs hub, the state picture is on the Georgia court costs guide, and the dispossessory side is on the Georgia eviction costs page.

Georgia probate runs through its own court

Georgia is one of the few states with a dedicated probate court in every county — 159 of them — holding exclusive jurisdiction over wills and estates. A will can be probated in common form, quickly and without notice to heirs, or in solemn form, with notice to all heirs and a judgment that binds them; Fulton's schedule prices both forms identically at $209, and the Council schedule groups permanent administration, probate in common and solemn form, administration with will annexed, no-administration-necessary and year's support petitions together at the same $175 base / $206 total. That grouping is the practical headline: the kind of first petition an estate needs does not change its opening price in Georgia. Standard forms (the GPCSF series published through the probate courts) are used statewide, so the paperwork, like the fee, is uniform even though each county collects it.

What happens after the first petition

Later filings follow the Council schedule's second tier. Any other petition concerning the estate — temporary administration, leave to sell real or perishable property, waiver of bond and grant of powers, determination of heirs, or the personal representative's petition for discharge at the end — carries the same $175 base collected as a $191 total. Motions, responses, citations and caveats are $75 flat with no add-ons. Fiduciary compliance reports — the inventory and annual returns — are $40 where the estate has assets and free where it has none, a distinction Fulton County's schedule states the same way ($40 with property, no charge without). Certified copies of the letters that banks and title companies require are $10 each, and ordinary copies are $1 per page; the Council notes that recording fees are no longer assessed at all. A year's-support petition for a surviving spouse and minor children sits in the first-petition group, but Fulton warns that publication can add substantially to it — its schedule prices year's-support publication at $180 where real property is involved, calculated at $15 per first 100 words per week.

How probate runs

1. Confirm the county where the deceased was domiciled and locate the original will, if any
2. Choose the first petition — probate in common or solemn form, letters of administration, no administration necessary, or year's support — on the statewide GPCSF forms
3. File with the county probate court and pay the opening total $206 on the Council schedule; $209 in Fulton County
4. Serve or publish notice to heirs and creditors as the petition requires (publication is extra), and receive letters
5. File the inventory ($40 with property), administer and report annually, and close with a petition for discharge in the $191 tier

What probate really costs beyond the court

Beyond the court's $206, a Georgia estate meets publication charges set by the newspaper (Fulton's discharge publication is a flat $30; year's-support publication is word-based, as above), sheriff service where personal service is required and not waived by signed acknowledgments, and a surety bond where the will does not waive it and heirs do not consent to waive it. Personal representative commissions in Georgia are set by a separate statute (O.C.G.A. §53-6-140) as a percentage of sums received and paid out, and attorney fees are market-priced — neither is part of §15-9-60, so neither is folded into this page's totals. The court-cost story is nonetheless unusually complete: one base, one published add-on stack, and a county total you can read before you file. Compare Georgia with Florida probate costs, North Carolina probate costs and New Jersey probate costs.

Can't afford the fee?

The Council schedule's notes preserve the long-standing Georgia rule that the §15-9-60 sums are not collected from a filing party who files a sworn affidavit of indigence with the proceeding, and estate costs are in any event administration expenses expected to be borne by the estate. A petitioner opening an estate with no liquid funds should raise the affidavit and the estate's position with the probate clerk at filing rather than borrowing the fee. The general mechanics of fee waivers are explained in the fee waiver guide.

Sources: Georgia Council of Probate Court Judges, Schedule of Costs and Fees effective January 1, 2025 (posted by Glynn County, content.glynncounty.org), read directly at build time — O.C.G.A. §15-9-60 base $175, first estate petitions $206 total, other estate petitions $191, motions/caveats $75, compliance reports $40, certified letters $10, copies $1/page · Fulton County Probate Court, Fee Schedule (fultonprobatega.org) — initial filing $209, subsequent $205, inventory/annual return $40 with property. Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with your county probate court.