One estate, three fee agreements read closely before any of them was signed, and what the differences between them turned out to mean. Written for the person deciding how much of a probate to hand over and how much to keep.
A fee agreement tells you the rate and the retainer. It rarely tells you what the work is, which is the only thing that lets you judge whether the number at the bottom is fair. Probate is a sequence of discrete filings and waiting periods, most of them predictable, a few of them capable of consuming more time than the rest combined. Reading an engagement letter against that sequence, stage by stage, turns an abstract hourly rate into something closer to a budget, and shows you exactly where your own labor could substitute for billed time.
The petition, and the paperwork that opens the estate
The opening filing is a form, usually a state-approved one, asking the court to admit the will and appoint the person named in it. It goes in with the original will, a certified death certificate, a list of heirs and beneficiaries with addresses, and a filing fee that varies by county. For an estate with a clean will, a named executor who is willing to serve, and no minor children, an attorney's office might spend two to four hours on it, much of that spent gathering addresses rather than drafting anything. Complications multiply that quickly: a will with an erasure, a missing original, an out-of-state executor who needs a resident agent.
Letters testamentary, and the copies you will burn through
Once the court appoints you, the clerk issues letters testamentary, the one-page document that proves to a bank you may act. Getting them is largely clerical, an hour or two of billed time at most, and the certified copies cost a few dollars apiece from the clerk's office. Order more than you think you need. Every bank, brokerage, title company, insurer and pension administrator will want one dated within a recent window, often sixty or ninety days, and going back for fresh copies later is a trip you make yourself, free of legal charge, at the counter.
Notice to creditors, and the months you spend waiting
Most states require published notice in a newspaper of general circulation, plus direct written notice to creditors you know about or could reasonably identify. The publication itself is a phone call and a form, an hour of work and a publication cost billed through as an expense. Direct notices take longer, because identifying creditors means reading a year of bank statements and mail. Then nothing happens for the statutory claim period, commonly several months, during which the estate cannot safely close. Attorneys should not be billing much across that gap, and if your invoices show steady activity through it, ask what the entries represent.
The inventory, where two estates stop resembling each other
The inventory is a sworn list of what the decedent owned on the date of death, with values. A checking account and a paid-off house is a short afternoon. A house with a mortgage, three brokerage accounts with mixed cost basis, a partnership interest, a boat and a storage unit is a project measured in weeks, most of it valuation work an attorney does not perform personally: appraisers, a realtor's broker price opinion, statements requested from custodians. Expect anywhere from three hours to well past twenty of professional time, and understand that most of the variance is the estate's, not the lawyer's.
This is also the stage where tax exposure gets settled. The estate needs its own taxpayer identification number, the decedent's final Form 1040 has to be filed, and an estate that earns income during administration files Form 1041 as well. The IRS is the authority on which returns an estate owes and when, and the answers turn on dates and dollar thresholds rather than judgment. Firms that handle probate routinely, such as Probate Lawyers, will usually tell you up front whether tax preparation sits inside the quoted fee or gets billed separately, and that single question is worth asking before you sign.
Accounting, distribution and closing the file
The final accounting reconciles everything: what came in, what was paid out, what remains, and what each beneficiary receives. If you have kept a clean ledger from day one, with receipts and a dedicated estate checking account, this is four to eight hours of drafting and review. If you have not, someone bills for reconstructing it from statements. Beneficiaries then sign receipts and waivers, the court is asked to discharge you, and the file closes. Contested accountings are a different animal entirely, and nothing in a flat quote covers litigation.
What the clerk will do for nothing
Court clerks cannot give legal advice, but they can and routinely do hand out the local forms, tell you the filing fees, explain how many certified copies you may order, confirm which hearing calendar you belong on, check a filing for completeness before you submit it, and tell you the deadline that applies. Many counties publish self-help packets with instructions written for executors. Using all of that costs you time and saves you money, and it is the reason an uncomplicated estate can be handled with a few hours of attorney review rather than a full engagement.
Price the engagement against this sequence, not against a lump sum. Ask which stages the fee covers, which are billed as expenses, and which you are free to walk into the courthouse and handle yourself.