probate-calculator

A small, dependency-free TypeScript library that estimates Florida probate costs from the actual statutory fee schedule: the "presumed reasonable" attorney fee under Fla. Stat. §733.6171 and the personal representative commission under §733.617, including the Ch. 2026-57 change that raised the summary-administration compensable-value cap from $75,000 to $150,000 effective July 1, 2026.

It powers the calculator at stepuplaw.com/florida-probate-cost-calculator, published here as open source so anyone (including legal-tech tools and AI agents doing statute-grounded reasoning) can reuse or verify the math instead of re-deriving it from scratch.

Install

Not yet published to the npm registry. Install straight from GitHub:

npm install github:stepuplaw/probate-calculator

Or clone and build locally:

git clone https://github.com/stepuplaw/probate-calculator.git
cd probate-calculator
npm install
npm run build
npm test

Usage

import { estimateProbateCost } from 'probate-calculator';

const estimate = estimateProbateCost({
  estateValue: 1_000_000,
  diedMoreThanTwoYearsAgo: false,
});

console.log(estimate);
// {
//   estateValue: 1000000,
//   attorneyFee: 30000,
//   personalRepresentativeCommission: 30000,
//   combinedStatutoryFee: 60000,
//   administrationType: 'formal',
//   summaryAdministrationCap: 150000,
//   timelineDescription: 'Typically 6 to 12+ months (includes the 3-month creditor-claim window under §733.702)'
// }

The individual pieces are exported too, if you only need one number:

import { attorneyFee, personalRepresentativeCommission, summaryAdministrationCap } from 'probate-calculator';

attorneyFee(100_000);                    // 3000
personalRepresentativeCommission(1_000_000); // 30000
summaryAdministrationCap(new Date());    // 150000 on/after 2026-07-01, else 75000

A working browser demo (plain HTML + ES modules, no build step beyond npm run build) is in demo/index.html.

API

Export	Signature	Basis
attorneyFee	(estateValue: number) => number	Fla. Stat. §733.6171(3)
personalRepresentativeCommission	(estateValue: number) => number	Fla. Stat. §733.617(2)
summaryAdministrationCap	(asOf?: Date) => number	Ch. 2026-57, eff. 2026-07-01
estimateProbateCost	(input: ProbateEstimateInput) => ProbateEstimate	Combines all three

Full types are in src/index.ts and shipped as .d.ts files in the built package.

What this is not

These are Florida's statutory "presumed reasonable" figures, a ceiling courts will accept without question, not a mandate. A flat-fee attorney often charges less. This library computes the ceiling accurately; it does not know what any given firm actually charges, and it is not legal advice.

Only the two ordinary-services fee schedules and the summary-administration threshold are implemented. Extraordinary services (will contests, real estate sales, tax work), filing/publication costs, and ancillary administration for out-of-state property are not part of the statutory schedule this library models — see the full write-up for those.

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome, particularly if a cited figure goes stale (statutory fee schedules and thresholds do change). Please cite the specific subsection you're correcting against.

License

MIT © Klagge Law, PLLC — Kevin D. Klagge, Esq., Fla. Bar No. 99502.