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Georgia court costs

Georgia probate filing cost: $190

Effective January 1, 2025, a Title 53 estate petition costs $190 in total: a $175 base fee (2024 SB 232 §1, amending O.C.G.A. §15-9-60(e)) plus a mandatory $15 civil filing fee that SB 232 §3 directs the clerk to collect "[i]n addition to all other legal costs ... in each civil action filed in the probate court", charged once per decedent proceeding on the listed estate petitions. Service, publication and any other statutory charges are extra.

$190 is the amount the statute states. Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.

What the statute charges

Every line below is computed from the statutory schedule quoted at the end of this page. These are court charges only. They are not an estimate of the total cost of settling an estate.

Georgia probate filing

Charge$25,000 estate$100,000 estate$400,000 estate$1,000,000 estate
Estate petition base fee$175$175$175$175
Indigent-defense civil filing surcharge$15$15$15$15
Total from this schedule$190$190$190$190

Not included in this total

  • Service of process
  • Publication
  • Other amounts provided by law

The act expressly treats service, publication, and other legal charges separately.

Source: 2024 SB 232, §§1, 3, 6; O.C.G.A. §§15-9-60(e), 15-21A-6(b), Georgia Governor. Edition/currentness: This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2025, and shall apply to fees paid in a probate181 court on and after such date.. Verified October 3, 2026.

What the $190 is made of

Georgia’s $190 figure is not a single line. It is the sum of the separate charges below, each set by its own part of the Georgia fee provision. Every one is a permanent, statewide charge on opening this kind of case, which is why they combine into one number a filer can check rather than take on trust.

  • $175Title 53 estate petition base fee
  • $15Civil filing fee charged in each civil action in the probate court

Added together, these come to $190 — the figure this page headlines. If any component changed in the source, the sum would no longer match, and the build withholds the total rather than publishing a number whose parts no longer add up.

Charges the $190 figure leaves out

These amounts appear in or beside the same Georgia schedule, so a reader can easily mistake one for part of the fee. Each is held out of the figure above for the specific reason given, which is the difference between an honest total and an inflated one.

A per-copy or per-page charge

Clerk copies charge, subsection (k)(3)
the $1.00 is charged per page for copies, not once per filing.
Record/transcript preparation charge, subsection (k)(26)
the second $1.00 is the per-page charge for preparing the record and transcript to the appellate courts, a per-unit charge.

A fee for a different filing

Marriage license without premarital education, subsection (k)(16)
the $40.00 is the marriage-license fee, a different service, not part of an estate filing.
Guardianship/adult-guardianship/involuntary-treatment petitions, subsections (f), (g), (h)
three additional $175.00 petition fees for a minor guardianship/conservatorship filing (Title 29), an adult guardianship/conservatorship filing (Title 29), and an involuntary-treatment/habilitation filing (Title 31 ch. 20) — each a different proceeding from the Title 53 estate petition.
Motions/responses and miscellaneous petitions at $75.00
nine separate $75.00 items: the "Motion, response, request, citation, or caveat" line in each of subsections (e), (f), (g) and (h), plus the (k) petitions for writ of habeas corpus, to open a safety deposit box, to amend a marriage-license application, to amend a vital record, and any other petition not otherwise set forth — each a different proceeding.
Fiduciary-compliance reports and terminate-guardianship petition at $40.00
four more $40.00 items: the "Fiduciary compliance report with assets" line in subsections (e), (f) and (g), and the (f) "Petition to terminate guardianship of minor" — each a different proceeding from the estate petition.
Petition for temporary letters of guardianship of minor, subsection (f)(2)
the $125.00 is the fee for a petition for temporary letters of guardianship of a minor, a different proceeding.
Miscellaneous clerk services at $10.00, subsection (k)
nine separate $10.00 clerk services in subsection (k): certificate of residence, certified copy of letters, certification of publication for an insurance-company charter, certification under seal of copies, filing a municipality/authority bond, examination of records per estate/name, junk-dealer registration, subpoena, and marriage certificate — each a different service, not the estate filing fee.
Weapons-carry-license application and superior-court appeal at $30.00, subsection (k)
two $30.00 items: application for a weapons carry license (k)(12) and appeal to superior court / petition for review (k)(25) — each a different proceeding or service.
Replacement of weapons carry license, subsection (k)(13)
the $6.00 is the fee to replace a lost/stolen/name-changed weapons carry license, a different service.
Miscellaneous filings at $15.00 and the Children's Trust marriage fee
seven additional $15.00 items: creditor's claim, declination to serve, exemplification, recording of marks and brands, renunciation of right of succession, and will filed for safekeeping (all subsection (k)); plus the SECTION 2 / Code Section 15-9-60.1 additional marriage-license fee for the State Children's Trust Fund — each a different proceeding or service, not the estate filing fee counted under SECTION 3.
Petition for declaration of exemptions, subsection (k)(24)
the $25.00 is the fee for a petition for declaration of exemptions, a different proceeding.
Transcript filing and transmission, subsection (k)(27)
the $35.00 is the fee for filing and transmission of an appellate transcript that does not require recopying, a different service.
Lost-papers petition and fireworks application at $50.00, subsection (k)
two $50.00 items: petition to establish lost papers (k)(28) and fireworks application (k)(29) — each a different proceeding, not the estate filing fee.

What the Georgia figure leaves out

The Georgia caveats are listed once, on the Georgia overview.

Other costs: probate cost lines.

Filing-cost source

Georgia record: 4/4 verified, 24 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction

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