By Oliver Morrisey — Solicitor, LLM (Wills & Estates, High Distinction); Founder and Director, Empower Probate Lawyers
Published: 26 July 2026 · Last updated: 26 July 2026 · Reading time: ~8 minutes
| KEY TAKEAWAYSProbate cost in NSW has three layers: a Supreme Court filing fee set by estate value, a solicitor’s fee fixed by regulation, and disbursements that no one puts in the quote.The court filing fee ranges from nil to $7,399 for 2026–27, stepping up in six bands.Solicitor fees for the grant itself are not negotiable. They are fixed by Schedule 3 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Regulation 2025 (NSW) — the 2015 regulation most websites still cite was repealed on 1 September 2025.A typical $850,000 estate costs roughly $7,650 all in. A $180,000 estate is closer to $3,130.The regulated scale stops at the grant. Everything after it — transferring the house, publishing the distribution notice, tax returns — is charged separately. |
Contents
- The three layers of probate cost in NSW
- NSW Supreme Court probate filing fees 2026–27
- How much does a probate lawyer cost?
- What the regulated scale does not cover
- The disbursements nobody quotes you
- Three worked examples
- The fee cliffs worth knowing about
- What actually blows the budget
- Frequently asked questions
The three layers of probate cost in NSW
If you have just been named executor, the probate cost in NSW is probably the first practical question on your mind — usually somewhere behind the grief and ahead of the paperwork. The honest answer is that it is knowable almost to the dollar before you start, which is unusual for anything involving lawyers.
That is because two of the three components are set by legislation, not by market rates. Your total is:
- The Supreme Court filing fee — a fixed amount determined by the gross value of the deceased’s NSW assets.
- Professional costs for obtaining the grant — fixed by regulation, on a sliding scale, and not something a firm can quietly mark up.
- Disbursements — the death certificate, online notices, land titles fees, and similar. Small individually. Not small collectively.
Most quotes you receive will cover the first two clearly and gesture vaguely at the third. That third bucket is where surprises live.
NSW Supreme Court probate filing fees 2026–27
This is the number people search for and rarely find published in full. Here is the current scale, effective 1 July 2026, taken directly from the Supreme Court of NSW schedule of fees. It applies to an uncontested summons for probate, letters of administration, or a reseal.
| Gross value of NSW estate | Filing fee (2026–27) |
|---|---|
| Less than $100,000 | Nil |
| $100,000 – $249,999 | $960 |
| $250,000 – $499,999 | $1,303 |
| $500,000 – $999,999 | $1,999 |
| $1,000,000 – $1,999,999 | $2,663 |
| $2,000,000 – $4,999,999 | $4,439 |
| $5,000,000 or more | $7,399 |
Three things to note. Court fees are GST exempt. The scale is based on gross value — assets, not assets minus debts — so a $900,000 house with a $600,000 mortgage still lands you in the $1,999 band. And the value counted is generally NSW assets only; superannuation and life insurance are usually excluded because they typically do not form part of the estate.
The Court reviews these fees every 1 July, so anything you read quoting $921 for the entry band is running on last financial year’s numbers.
How much does a probate lawyer cost in NSW?
Here is the part that surprises people: for the grant itself, the answer is the same at every firm.
Professional costs for obtaining a first-time grant of probate or letters of administration are fixed by Schedule 3 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Regulation 2025 (NSW). A practice cannot contract out of them. Worth flagging for anyone doing their own research: this regulation replaced the 2015 regulation, which was repealed on 1 September 2025 — yet a great many law firm pages and cost guides still cite the old instrument. The figures happen to be unchanged, but it tells you something about how carefully those pages are maintained.
| Disclosed value of assets | Professional costs (excl. GST) |
|---|---|
| Up to $30,000 | $560 + $13.33 per $1,000 |
| $30,001 – $150,000 | $960 + $5.90 per $1,000 above $30,000 |
| $150,001 – $1,000,000 | $1,670 + $4.47 per $1,000 above $150,000 |
| $1,000,001 – $3,000,000 | $5,470 + $1.66 per $1,000 above $1,000,000 |
| $3,000,001 – $5,000,000 | $8,800 + $1.10 per $1,000 above $3,000,000 |
| $5,000,001 – $10,000,000 | $11,000 + $0.90 per $1,000 above $5,000,000 |
| Over $10,000,000 | $15,500 (capped) |
Add 10% GST to each figure. So on a $500,000 estate the regulated fee is $3,234.50 plus GST — $3,557.95 — regardless of which firm you instruct.
Two practical consequences. First, if a firm quotes you more than the scale for a straightforward first grant, ask which items sit outside Schedule 3 and why. Second, since price is fixed, you are choosing on responsiveness and on how few requisitions the application attracts — which, as you will see below, is where the real money is.
What the regulated scale does not cover
This is the single most useful thing in this article, and it comes straight from the regulation itself. Schedule 3 expressly excludes the following from the fixed fee:
- Disbursements, valuation fees, advertising fees and filing fees
- Sorting the deceased’s papers and belongings
- Anything for tax purposes, including preparing returns
- Obtaining valuations of assets or debts
- Working out whether an asset even forms part of the estate
- Advice on tax, on someone’s rights to challenge the will, on difficult questions of interpretation, on informal wills, capacity, duress, undue influence or forgery, or on renouncing executorship
- Transmission applications and other work to transfer or realise assets
- Preparing and publishing the notice of intended distribution
- Preparing and filing accounts to pass the accounts
Read that list again with an executor’s eye. Selling or transferring the house is not in the fixed fee. Publishing the notice that protects you personally from a late family provision claim is not in the fixed fee. The scale buys you a grant of probate. It does not buy you an administered estate.
This is the honest answer to “how much does a probate lawyer cost” — the grant is fixed, and everything after it is usually hourly or a separate fixed-fee package. Ask which, in writing, before you engage anyone.
The disbursements nobody quotes you
Current NSW figures, all verifiable:
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Notice of intended application (online, mandatory) | $59 |
| Notice of intended distribution (online, advisable) | $59 |
| Amending and republishing a notice | $23 |
| Death certificate, NSW Registry | $68 standard / $101 priority |
| Transmission application, NSW Land Registry Services | $182.73 incl. GST |
| Sealed and certified copy of the grant (exemplification) | $79, or $184 with file retrieval |
| Lodging a caveat against a grant | $57 |
| Beneficiaries (section 50) search, 1–10 years | $67 |
A note on that second notice. The notice of intended distribution costs $59 and is technically optional. Under section 93 of the Succession Act 2006 (NSW), an executor who publishes it, waits at least 30 days, waits at least six months from the date of death, and has no notice of a claim, is generally protected from personal liability to a later family provision claimant. Family provision claims must be brought within 12 months of death. Skipping a $59 notice to save $59 is, on any view, a poor trade.
Add roughly $400–$500 in disbursements to any estate that includes real property, and around $190 to one that does not.
Three worked examples
Straightforward estates, valid will, sole executor, no dispute, using 2026–27 figures.
Estate A — $180,000, bank accounts and a term deposit
Court filing fee $960 · regulated professional costs $1,984.51 incl. GST · notices $118 · death certificate $68
Total ≈ $3,130
Estate B — $420,000, a unit and two bank accounts
Court filing fee $1,303 · regulated professional costs $3,164.59 incl. GST · notices $118 · death certificate $68 · transmission application $182.73
Total ≈ $4,836
Estate C — $850,000, house, shares and cash
Court filing fee $1,999 · regulated professional costs $5,278.90 incl. GST · notices $118 · death certificate $68 · transmission application $182.73
Total ≈ $7,647
None of these include selling the property, lodging a final tax return, or anything contested. They are the floor, not the ceiling.
The fee cliffs worth knowing about
Because the court fee steps rather than slides, a single dollar of estate value can cost real money:
| Threshold | Fee below | Fee at | Jump |
|---|---|---|---|
| $100,000 | $0 | $960 | $960 |
| $250,000 | $960 | $1,303 | $343 |
| $500,000 | $1,303 | $1,999 | $696 |
| $1,000,000 | $1,999 | $2,663 | $664 |
| $2,000,000 | $2,663 | $4,439 | $1,776 |
| $5,000,000 | $4,439 | $7,399 | $2,960 |
An estate of $99,999 pays nothing to the Court. At $100,000 it pays $960.
To be very clear: this is not something to engineer. The value is sworn to on affidavit, and understating it to duck a fee band is a serious matter with consequences well beyond the fee saved. But it is worth understanding when you are getting property valued, because a defensible valuation near a threshold is worth obtaining properly rather than guessing.
Note too that the smallest estates get relief only on the court fee. An estate of $99,000 pays $0 to the Court but still attracts around $1,503.81 in regulated professional costs — so “under $100,000” does not mean free.
What actually blows the budget
Not the fee scale. Three things:
Requisitions. If the registry finds a defect, it issues a requisition and your application goes to the back of a second queue. The Chief Justice noted in a July 2025 statement that incomplete applications from practitioners — uncertified death certificates among them — were a leading cause of otherwise unnecessary requisitions. Getting it right first time is the highest-return decision in the whole process.
Intestacy. If there is no valid will, you need letters of administration instead, and the queue is materially longer. As at the week of 20–24 July 2026, the Supreme Court was assessing probate applications filed between 30 June and 9 July 2026 — a few weeks’ wait. It was assessing letters of administration applications filed between 20 and 28 May 2026: roughly two months behind. Same registry, same week, very different waits.
Disputes. A contested probate matter is filed on a different fee footing entirely — $1,443 for an individual to file a summons contesting probate, and that is the entry ticket, not the cost.
Frequently asked questions
Is probate expensive in NSW?
For a typical estate, no. A $500,000 estate with a valid will and no dispute usually costs $5,000 to $6,000 all up, most of which is fixed by regulation. The expense arrives with disputes, missing wills, or intestacy.
Who pays the probate costs?
The estate. Executors commonly pay upfront and reimburse themselves once assets are released; many firms will wait for estate funds where there is clearly enough to cover the costs.
Can I do probate myself in NSW?
Yes. Uncontested applications are filed online through the NSW Online Registry, and you save the professional costs while still paying the court fee and disbursements. It is realistic for a simple estate with one property and a clear will. It is a poor idea where there is a blended family, an informal or damaged will, assets in several states, or any hint of a claim.
Does probate cost more if there is no will?
The court filing fee and the regulated scale are the same. The waiting time is longer and the evidence required is greater, which is where extra cost tends to appear.
Are court fees GST-free?
Yes. Court filing fees are GST exempt. Professional costs under the scale attract GST.
How long is the whole process?
Publish the notice, wait the required period, then file. As at July 2026 the registry was working through probate applications roughly two to four weeks old. Add six months from the date of death before safely distributing, and the practical answer for most estates is six to nine months from death to distribution.
Where to go from here
The most useful thing an executor can do is separate the two questions: what does the grant cost, and what does administering the estate cost. The first is fixed and published. The second depends entirely on what the deceased owned and who is happy about it. Any firm that will not put that distinction in writing before you engage them is telling you something.
If you want the probate cost in NSW broken down against your own numbers, Empower Probate Lawyers