First of all, lawyer’s fees and court costs are expenses of administration and the person paying those expenses will be entitled to a refund from the estate. Furthermore, the executor of the will is entitled to a commission for his/her service. So, while the petitioner will have upfront expenses, he/she is entitled to repayment of those expenses from the estate.

Lawyers normally charge an hourly rate. Hourly rates vary greatly. Normal hourly rates range from $300 per hour to $750 per hour. Sometimes lawyers charge flat fees. Flat fees are more common in criminal cases.

Because I am retired and have no office and no employees, my hourly rate, $150, is dramatically lower than the market rate.

The question is: how many lawyer hours will your case take. The answer is impossible to know in advance. Not knowing the total cost in advance is very unsettling. I know.

In my experience, the probate of a will in solemn form in an uncontested case will take about 10 hours of lawyer time.

You must know, though, that getting the will probated and having the executor of the will appointed is only the first step in a long series of tasks. I have written a long (2,888 words) essay on the project based upon my experience as a probate judge.

So, as you can compute based upon what I have written above, it will cost about $1,500 in lawyer’s fees to probate a will in solemn form in an uncontested case.

Court costs may run as high as $500 for an uncontested case. Costs add up quickly in more complex matters, to say nothing of lawyer fees.

In conclusion, if you want me to represent you in an uncontested probate of a will in solemn form in Clayton County, GA, you may expect to pay in advance a non-refundable retainer of $1,500 and a refundable deposit for court costs of $500.

I strongly recommend that you call at least two other local lawyers to compare prices. You need to learn three things: 1) the lawyer’s hourly rate; 2) an estimate of total lawyer time for the project; and 3) the initial retainer. Of course, lawyers differ along other metrics than price, but the other metrics are hard to know in advance.