This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.
2026 cost estimates for estate planning / probate in Pennsylvania, including attorney fees, court costs, and other expenses.
As of June 29, 2026, a estate planning / probate in Pennsylvania costs on average $2,000, typically $1,000-$3,000 for a moderate-complexity case, based on sourced attorney-fee and court-cost data. Typical attorney rates run $180 to $360 per hour. A moderate-complexity case typically takes 2-6 weeks to resolve. Common related costs include notarization fees ($10-$25) and trust registration fee ($50-$200).
Data verified: June 29, 2026
| Complexity | Low | Median | High | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple | $300 | $650 | $1,100 | 1-2 weeks |
| Moderate | $1,000 | $2,000 | $3,000 | 2-6 weeks |
| Complex | $2,950 | $5,900 | $9,800 | 1-3 months |
Last verified: June 2026
$180 – $360/ hour
Median: $285/hr
2-6 weeks
For moderate complexity cases
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</script>Estate planning and probate cost formation depends on which side of death the work happens on. Planning documents drafted while someone is alive — a will, a revocable living trust, powers of attorney — are usually flat-fee, priced by document complexity and whether a trust (which avoids probate but requires more drafting) is involved rather than a simple will alone. Probate, which happens after death when an estate moves through court, is billed differently: often hourly or as a percentage of the estate's value, and its cost tracks estate size and how many beneficiaries or disputes are involved.
The biggest cost driver in probate specifically is whether the estate is contested. An estate with a clear will, cooperative beneficiaries, and no significant debts moves through simple probate with predictable court filing fees, executor fees, and appraisal costs. A contested estate — disputed will validity, disagreements among heirs, or complex assets like a business — adds litigation-style hourly billing on top of the base probate costs, which is why complex-case figures on this page run substantially above the simple-case median.
Take a moderate-complexity estate planning / probate matter in Pennsylvania. The recorded median total is $2,000, with reported quotes clustering between $1,000 and $3,000. Each statutory line below is sized against that median.
Added together the itemised lines come to $310–$925, which leaves roughly $1,075–$1,690 of the Pennsylvania median as professional time — the part that differs between quotes.
At $2,000, the median estate planning / probate cost in Pennsylvania is in line with the $1,954 national average across all 50 states and DC.
Pennsylvania carries 3 rows — simple, $300–$1,100 at $155–$285/hr over 1-2 weeks; moderate, $1,000–$3,000 at $180–$360/hr over 2-6 weeks; complex, $2,950–$9,800 at $260–$490/hr over 1-3 months — on 4 shared citations. They put it below the midpoint of the table without reaching the bottom quarter.
$2,000 is a median, not the middle of the band — $1,000 above the $1,000 floor, $1,000 under the $3,000 ceiling. Every rank below is out of 46.
Pennsylvania occupies the 27th row of 46 for a estate planning / probate. Its $2,000 median trails the $2,075 table midpoint by $75, which is 4% — close enough that a single firm's quote can straddle both figures.
Minnesota ($2,000) and Indiana ($1,950) bracket Pennsylvania inside a $50 window — narrow enough that 27th is close to arbitrary.
5 tracked states — Georgia, Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana among them — record a median within three percent of Pennsylvania's $2,000. The figure sits in the densest part of the estate planning / probate distribution, where a rank change of several rows costs only a few hundred dollars.
The two rankings disagree sharply. Pennsylvania attorneys sit 21st of 46 on hourly rate at $285 an hour, but the state is only 27th on total estate planning / probate cost — the recorded matters resolve in fewer billed hours than the rate alone would produce.
| Rank | State | Median | Against Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Nevada | $2,100 | +$100 |
| 22 | Utah | $2,100 | +$100 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | $2,100 | +$100 |
| 24 | Georgia | $2,050 | +$50 |
| 25 | Ohio | $2,050 | +$50 |
| 26 | Minnesota | $2,000 | −$0 |
| 27 | Pennsylvania | $2,000 | — |
| 28 | Indiana | $1,950 | −$50 |
| 29 | Oregon | $1,950 | −$50 |
| 30 | Wyoming | $1,900 | −$100 |
| 31 | Florida | $1,850 | −$150 |
| 32 | Michigan | $1,850 | −$150 |
| 33 | Tennessee | $1,850 | −$150 |
Within ten percent of the Pennsylvania figure there are 15 states above and only 6 below. $0 up or $50 down moves Pennsylvania a row, which means the ranking has far more room to improve than to slip: the estate planning / probate field is dense overhead and sparse underneath.
Climbing five places would mean passing Utah, Wisconsin, Georgia, Ohio, Minnesota and adding $100 to the $2,000 recorded here.
Five places down means passing under Indiana, Oregon, Wyoming, Florida, Michigan: $150.
$600 short of Hawaii ($2,600), $650 clear of Alabama ($1,350).
The $2,000 median covers only about 7 hours at the $285 median rate, which is short enough that flat-fee and limited-scope arrangements, rather than an hourly meter, tend to describe how the work is actually billed. That rounds to the same 7 hours as the peer median, so on workload Pennsylvania is indistinguishable from the middle of the table at this precision.
Moving from a simple to a complex estate planning / probate multiplies the Pennsylvania total by 9.1, and almost all of that is hours rather than price: 3 hours at $205 becomes 16 hours at $360, so the workload grows 5.3x while the rate grows only 1.76x. Complexity here buys attorney time, not a premium hourly rate.
From $1,000 to $3,000 the moderate band is $2,000 wide, close to the $2,050 peer median. End to end that is 7 hours at $285.
By implied hours Pennsylvania falls to 30th of 46 at 7 hours, 3 places below its 27th on cost — the estate planning / probate total arriving on less recorded work.
54% up the $1,000–$3,000 band sits the $2,075 table midpoint, buying 7 hours at $285 against the 7 the local estate planning / probate median implies — 0 hours apart.
| Measure | Pennsylvania | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Moderate median | $2,000 | 27th |
| Hourly median | $285 | 21st |
| Implied hours | 7 | 30th |
| Simple median | $650 | 18th |
| Complex median | $5,900 | 24th |
$285 an hour puts Pennsylvania between Texas ($290) and Utah ($285) — not the estate planning / probate cost pairing.
Utah records the same $285: rate cannot separate them, totals do.
$2,000 buys 10 hours at $205, 7 at $285, 6 at $360.
| Rank | State | Median rate |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Oregon | $295 |
| 20 | Texas | $290 |
| 21 | Pennsylvania | $285 |
| 22 | Utah | $285 |
| 23 | Arizona | $280 |
Ranked tier by tier, Pennsylvania slides 6 places downward: 18th at the simple tier, 27th at moderate, 24th at complex. Its headline moderate position sits between the two extremes rather than summarising them.
$650 is 18th of 46 on a straightforward estate planning / probate, under Minnesota ($650) and over Rhode Island ($650), $25 over the $625 tier midpoint.
$5,900 is 24th of 46 once contested, between Maine ($5,900) and Iowa ($5,800), $0 off the $5,900 tier midpoint.
The three bands are continuous in Pennsylvania: the simple tier reaches $1,100 where the moderate tier starts at $1,000, and the moderate tier reaches $3,000 where the complex tier starts at $2,950. A single quoted figure can therefore belong to two different tiers, and the tier label — not the number — is what identifies which.
| Tier | Pennsylvania | Rank | Tier midpoint | Implied hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| simple | $650 | 18th | $625 | 3 |
| moderate | $2,000 | 27th | $2,075 | 7 |
| complex | $5,900 | 24th | $5,900 | 16 |
$650 puts Pennsylvania 18th of 46 on straightforward matters, 9 up on its moderate position, and $25 (4%) over the $625 tier midpoint.
3 implied hours at $205: 43% of the moderate tier's 7, over 1-2 weeks.
Minnesota ($650) and Rhode Island ($650) bracket it — a $0 window.
13 states record a simple-tier median within three percent of $650, denser than the 5 around the moderate row.
$5,900 puts Pennsylvania 24th of 46 on contested matters, 3 up on its moderate position, and $0 (0%) over the $5,900 tier midpoint.
16 implied hours at $360: 229% of the moderate tier's 7, over 1-3 months.
Maine ($5,900) and Iowa ($5,800) bracket it — a $100 window.
8 states record a complex-tier median within three percent of $5,900, denser than the 5 around the moderate row.
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Michigan | $650 |
| 17 | Minnesota | $650 |
| 18 | Pennsylvania | $650 |
| 19 | Rhode Island | $650 |
| 20 | Texas | $650 |
| Rank | State | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | Illinois | $5,950 |
| 23 | Maine | $5,900 |
| 24 | Pennsylvania | $5,900 |
| 25 | Iowa | $5,800 |
| 26 | Ohio | $5,800 |
Among the 8 matter types tracked in Pennsylvania, a estate planning / probate records the smallest median at $2,000, below Real Estate Closing on the line above.
Across practice areas Pennsylvania ranges from 17th of 46 for Personal Injury to 31st for DUI / DWI — a 14-place spread, with its 27th on estate planning / probate inside it.
Pennsylvania is not equally priced in every practice area. Measured against each matter's own midpoint, Immigration runs 6% above its own midpoint while DUI / DWI runs 7% below its own midpoint — a 13-point spread between the extremes.
The largest tracked median in Pennsylvania is 5.2x the smallest, effectively the 5.1x that the typical state records: the internal spread is ordinary even where the levels are not.
1 of 8 matter types rank Pennsylvania in the upper third, 0 in the lower, 7 between; estate planning / probate is 27th.
In percentile terms it sits at the 42th percentile of the 46 tracked states.
| Matter | Simple | Moderate | Complex | Hours | Rank | vs mid | Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal Defense | $3,300 | $10,450 | $29,650 | 34 | 23rd | +2% | Illinois |
| Divorce | $2,800 | $8,400 | $22,600 | 27 | 27th | −2% | Arizona |
| DUI / DWI | $3,700 | $6,950 | $16,050 | 24 | 31st | −7% | Montana |
| Immigration | $2,250 | $5,050 | $11,000 | 18 | 22nd | +6% | Virginia |
| Personal Injury | $1,600 | $5,000 | $15,900 | — | 17th | −4% | Michigan |
| Bankruptcy | $1,650 | $3,800 | $4,800 | 15 | 19th | +6% | New Jersey |
| Real Estate Closing | $1,050 | $2,300 | $4,800 | 9 | 21st | +3% | Nevada |
| Estate Planning / Probate | $650 | $2,000 | $5,900 | 7 | 27th | −4% | Minnesota |
Simple tier. $650 ÷ $205 = about 3 hours — 4 fewer than the moderate tier's 7, and $1,350 less.
Work against price. $2,000 to $5,900 is a $3,900 step, mostly work: 9 more hours at $285 is $2,565, while moving to $360 across 16 hours adds $1,200. Work carries 68%.
Borrowing the wrong row. Budgeting from Indiana ($1,950) lands $50 under Pennsylvania; from Minnesota ($2,000), $0 over; from the $2,075 table midpoint, $75 out.
Contested against simple. At Pennsylvania's own recorded figures, $5,900 buys 9.1 matters at the $650 simple median — or, counted in time, 16 implied hours against 3, a factor of 5.3 — the two ratios differing because the rate rises with the tier.
Verified June 2026. Filing fees change on the Pennsylvaniacourt's own schedule; billing models are covered in the legal fees guide.
This tool provides general cost estimates for informational purposes only. It is NOT legal advice. Costs vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for specific guidance.