Probate · NC
North Carolina probate: fees and how long it takes
In North Carolina, probate runs before the clerk of superior court, who fixes the executor’s commission and charges court costs that grow with the personal estate.
Rules read on official North Carolina pages on · Checked by Radif Partners · How we calculate
- Creditor claim period
- 3 months
- Small-estate limit
- $20,000
- Executor and attorney fees
- Set by statute
- Statutory fees, $500,000 estate
- $25,000
North Carolina probate fees are set by the clerk of superior court within a statutory ceiling: the personal representative may receive up to 5% of the receipts and of the expenditures made in administering the estate, with nothing earned on distributions to heirs, so an estate that collects $180,000 and pays out $35,000 allows at most $10,750. Court costs follow G.S. 7A-307: a flat $120 plus $0.40 per $100 of personal property, the value-based part capped at $6,000, which comes to $840 on that estate. Attorneys hired by the estate are paid as reasonable expenses approved by the clerk. The probate calendar is short at the start and long at the end. The notice to creditors runs four weeks in a newspaper and names a deadline at least 3 months after first publication, but the final account is not due until one year after the representative qualifies, so that one-year account date often sets the horizon of a North Carolina estate. Personal property of $20,000 or less can be collected by affidavit 30 days after death.
Statutory fees and court fee in North Carolina
$25,000
5.0% of the estate · at least 9 months before final distribution
| Personal representative commission (G.S. 28A-23-3) (maximum) | $25,000 |
| Court filing fee | set by the county |
| Creditor claim period | 3 months |
| Small-estate limit | $20,000 |
Estimate under the North Carolina probate statutes. Publication, bond, appraisal, extraordinary services and the estate's own taxes are extra. How this is calculated.
The clerk, not a judge
North Carolina gives original jurisdiction over estates to the clerk of superior court in each county. The clerk issues letters, receives the inventory and accounts, and fixes the commission under G.S. 28A-23-3. The 5% figure is a ceiling, not an entitlement: clerks look at the time spent, the care and the results, and they may take into account legal or other professional fees the estate already paid for work the representative would otherwise have done.
What the commission is computed on
The base is receipts plus expenditures, never the total value of the estate. Personal property counts at its value when received; real estate counts only if it is sold and the proceeds are applied to debts or devises. Take a Raleigh estate holding $180,000 of bank accounts and a car, where the representative pays $35,000 of bills, funeral costs and taxes, and the house goes to the children by deed instead of a sale. The maximum is 5% of $215,000, or $10,750. The house adds nothing. The calculator above applies the percentage to the whole value you enter, so it shows the highest figure the clerk could allow, not the likely one.
Court costs that scale with the estate
G.S. 7A-307 charges a fixed $120 plus $0.40 for every $100 of gross personal estate, including proceeds from realty sales but not realty itself. For the Raleigh estate that is $840. The value-based part stops at $6,000, a ceiling reached once the personal estate passes $1,500,000; an estate of $2,000,000 pays $6,120. The research behind this page read the clerk-costs statute through an archive copy of the legislature's site, because the official pages refuse automated readers.
Shortcuts below full administration
The affidavit route of G.S. 28A-25-1 covers personal property up to $20,000, or $30,000 when the surviving spouse is the sole heir or sole devisee, filed with the clerk at least 30 days after death. Debts of up to $5,000 owed to the decedent can be paid straight to the clerk. A surviving spouse who takes everything can ask for summary administration under Article 28 instead of a full estate.
Where the year goes
A State tax release, a house slow to sell, or a dispute over who the heirs are can push the final account past its one-year mark, since the statute moves the due date to six months after a tax release when that comes later. A Florida estate, by contrast, faces a fixed commission schedule and a shorter creditor window.
The North Carolina probate rules this calculator applies
| Estate value | Personal representative commission (G.S. 28A-23-3) (maximum) |
|---|---|
| $100,000 | $5,000 |
| $250,000 | $12,500 |
| $500,000 | $25,000 |
| $1,000,000 | $50,000 |
| $2,000,000 | $100,000 |
Creditor claims. The personal representative publishes notice once a week for 4 weeks naming a deadline at least 3 months after first publication (G.S. 28A-14-1(a)); claims not presented by that date, or within 90 days after notice is mailed or delivered to a known creditor if later, are forever barred (G.S. 28A-19-3(a)). source
Closing the estate. The final account is due within 1 year after qualifying (or 6 months after a State tax release, or at the annual account date, whichever is later) and may be filed voluntarily earlier with the clerk's approval (G.S. 28A-21-2(a),(a2)); it presupposes the 3-month creditor period of G.S. 28A-14-1. source
Small estates. Collection of personal property by affidavit filed with the clerk 30 days after death when personal property, less liens, does not exceed $20,000; up to $30,000 when the affiant is the surviving spouse and sole heir (intestate) or sole devisee (testate) (G.S. 28A-25-1, 28A-25-1.1). Not indexed. source
Simplified procedure. Small estate affidavit procedure (G.S. 28A-25-1, 28A-25-1.1); payment of debts up to $5,000 owed to the decedent to the clerk of superior court (G.S. 28A-25-6); summary administration for a surviving spouse (G.S. Chapter 28A, Article 28). source
Filing fee. Costs in estate administration: $10.00 facilities fee, $4.00 technology fee and $106.00 General Court of Justice fee plus 40 cents per $100 of gross estate (personalty and sale proceeds of realty, not realty itself), the value-based part capped at $6,000, minimum $15.00 per filing (G.S. 7A-307(a)(1),(1a),(2)). source
Personal representative. Commissions fixed by the clerk of superior court, not exceeding 5% of receipts (including personal property when received) and of expenditures made according to law; no commission on distributions to heirs or devisees; realty sale proceeds count only when applied to debts or devises (G.S. 28A-23-3). source
Attorney. No statutory schedule; the clerk may allow counsel fees to an attorney serving as personal representative for professional services beyond routine administration (G.S. 28A-23-4); fees of attorneys hired by the estate are paid as reasonable administration expenses approved by the clerk. source
Personal representative commission (G.S. 28A-23-3) (maximum). Commission fixed in the clerk's discretion, not to exceed 5% of receipts and expenditures (G.S. 28A-23-3(a)); for gross estates of $2,000 or less the clerk sets a just amount. source