How much does probate cost in Alaska?
7 Aug 2026
Alaska fixes neither professional fee — the attorney and the personal representative are both paid what is reasonable — and the court’s own charge is flat at $250.00 to open a trust or estate action, whatever the estate is worth.
That $250.00 is not in the statute books: it is set by the Alaska Supreme Court in Administrative Rule 9, so it can change by court order with no legislation to watch for. The cost that does move with the estate is the bond, and Alaska is one of the few states that starts from bond required rather than bond excused — four exceptions get you out of it, and an interested person with more than $1,000.00 at stake can put it back.
Alaska R. Admin. P. 9(b)(2) and AS 13.16.430 — Alaska Rules of Administration, published by the Alaska Court System · Verified 7 Aug 2026
Informational only, not legal advice. Figures verified on the date stamped. Details: /disclaimer/
Work it out on your own number
Nothing on this page computes from the estate value. Alaska publishes flat charges, and the only figure that scales is a bond you may not have to post.
| Trust or estate action, other than registration or deposit of a will or trust document | $250.00 |
| Depositing a will with the court for safekeeping | $50.00 |
| Registration of a trust document | $50.00 |
| Ancillary probate letters from a foreign court, AS 13.21.030 | $50.00 |
| Guardianship, conservatorship or other protective proceeding, all services | $150.00 |
| Petition for court approval of a minor’s settlement, opening a new file | $100.00 |
| Petition for appointment of a temporary property custodian | $0.00 |
| Lodging a temporary property custodian affidavit and inventory | $0.00 |
Worked through: the filing fee is $250.00 on an estate of $25,000.00, $250.00 on an estate of $250,000.00 and $250.00 on an estate of $2,000,000.00 — the estate value never enters it. Where a will was deposited for safekeeping during life and then probated, the two charges are separate: $50.00 and $250.00, $300.00 across the two events.
This figure is set by court rule, not by statute. A Supreme Court order can move it without any bill passing, which means there is no amendment history to watch — the rule document itself has to be re-read. The bond is the one Alaska cost that tracks the estate: where one is required, it runs on a sworn estimate of the personal estate plus a year’s expected income, and what you pay is a surety premium on that sum rather than the sum itself.
What each part costs
Every row is one figure, one source, one date. Where Alaska fixes no price, the row says so instead of guessing.
| Fee | Amount or formula | Set by | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney feeOrdinary services | No statutory rateAlaska sets no rate and has no attorney fee section. AS 13.16.440 names the attorney alongside auditors, investment advisors and other specialised agents or assistants, and gives the court one job: after notice to all interested persons, on petition of an interested person, or on appropriate motion where administration is supervised, it may review whether the employment was proper and whether the compensation was reasonable, including the compensation the representative determined for their own services. Any person who has received excessive compensation from an estate may be ordered to make appropriate refunds. AS 13.16.435 adds that a representative who defends or prosecutes a proceeding in good faith, successful or not, is entitled to necessary expenses and disbursements from the estate including reasonable attorney fees. | Agreement, reviewable by the court for reasonableness | Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.440, with AS 13.16.435 Both render on the same continuous chapter page | 7 Aug 2026 |
| Executor or personal representativeCompensation for services | Reasonable compensationA personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services. The section publishes no percentage, no bands and no factor list, and it has stood unamended since 1972. Where a will provides for compensation and there is no contract with the decedent regarding it, the representative may renounce the provision before qualifying and be entitled to reasonable compensation instead; the right to all or any part of the compensation may also be renounced, and a written renunciation of fee may be filed with the court. Reasonableness is tested on review under AS 13.16.440. | Agreement with the estate, reviewable by the court | Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.430 Uniform Probate Code §3-719 as enacted in Alaska · §1 ch 78 SLA 1972 | 7 Aug 2026 |
| Court filing feeTrust or estate action | $250.00 flatSet by Supreme Court rule, not by statute: Administrative Rule 9(b)(2)(A) charges $250.00 on filing a trust or estate action other than the registration or deposit of a will or trust document. Flat at every estate value, and the same figure Rule 9(b)(1) charges for filing any civil case. The related items sit in the same rule: $50.00 to deposit a will for safekeeping, with no fee where a guardian or conservator deposits a protected person’s will after their death; $50.00 to register a trust document; $50.00 to file ancillary probate letters from a foreign court; $150.00 for a guardianship, conservatorship or other protective proceeding covering all services; and $100.00 for a petition to approve a minor’s settlement where it opens a new file. There is no fee for a petition to appoint a temporary property custodian or for lodging that custodian’s affidavit and inventory. | Alaska Supreme Court, by administrative rule | Alaska R. Admin. P. 9(b)(2) Consolidated Rules of Administration · changes by Supreme Court Order, so there is no amendment history to watch | 7 Aug 2026 |
| Newspaper publicationNotice to creditors | Not fixed by statuteNot fixed by statute — the newspaper sets its own rate. The statute sets how often the notice runs and for how long; your state page shows that schedule. In Alaska the notice is mandatory: AS 13.16.450 says the personal representative shall publish on appointment, once a week for three successive weeks, announcing the appointment and address and notifying creditors to present claims within four months of first publication or be forever barred. The newspaper must be one of general circulation in the judicial district — Alaska has boroughs rather than counties, so a reader looking for a county paper will not find one. Where notice is not published, claims arising before death stay open for three years after the death under AS 13.16.460(a). | The newspaper — no state rate provision located | Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.450, with AS 13.16.460 A legal-notice rate provision outside title 13 has not been located; named here as an open job rather than a finding | 7 Aug 2026 |
| BondPersonal representative bond | Required, with four exceptions
|
Bond required by default; amount is a statutory floor | Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.255, with AS 13.16.260 and AS 13.16.265 All three render on the same continuous chapter page | 7 Aug 2026 |
Alaska starts from bond required, which is the opposite of most states on this site. Elsewhere the usual position is no bond unless the court or an interested person calls for one. Here the bond is the default and you need one of four exceptions to avoid it — so a will that is silent about bond leaves you buying one.
How the Alaska sources are linked. The Legislature’s statute site renders a chapter as one continuous page and the section anchor scrolls to it, so each statute link above opens the chapter at the section read. The court fee comes from the Court System’s own consolidated rules PDF.
What can change the bill — allowances, waivers and one-off charges
- Depositing a will for safekeeping — $50.00, charged during the testator’s lifetime and separate from the $250.00 to open the estate later. No fee where a guardian or conservator deposits a protected person’s or ward’s will after their death.
- Ancillary probate — $50.00 to file letters from a foreign court, charged where the estate was already probated in another state and Alaska property has to be dealt with.
- Registration of a trust document — $50.00.
- Guardianship, conservatorship or other protective proceeding — $150.00, and that one charge covers all services in it.
- Petition to approve a minor’s settlement — $100.00 where it involves opening a new file.
- You may not have to pay at all — for the bond, at least. Where the devisees or the heirs file a written waiver of surety bond, or the will expressly waives it, the requirement falls away entirely and the surety premium with it.
- Temporary property custodian — $0.00. No fee for the petition to appoint one and no fee for lodging the custodian’s affidavit and inventory.
Alaska R. Admin. P. 9(b)(2) and 9(b)(12)(B)(ii); AS 13.16.255 — Alaska Rules of Administration · Verified 7 Aug 2026
What changes YOUR number in Alaska
- The bond default is inverted, and that is the biggest cost decision on this page
- Most states excuse the bond unless someone asks for it. Alaska requires it unless the will expressly waives surety bond for the person qualifying, the devisees or heirs file a written waiver, the representative is a qualified corporate fiduciary, or cash or collateral is deposited with a state agency. A surety premium is charged on the bond sum, so the difference between a will that waives and a will that is silent is a real recurring cost.
- The bond sum is a floor, and it includes next year’s income
- Where a bond is required and neither the will nor the order sets the amount, you file a sworn estimate of the value of the personal estate and of the income expected from the personal and real estate during the next year, and the bond is for not less than that combined figure. The registrar may allow the amount to be cut by the value of estate assets deposited with a domestic financial institution in a way that prevents unauthorised disposition.
- $1,000.00 forces the bond back, and 30 days is the whole cure
- Any person apparently having an interest worth more than $1,000.00, or a creditor with a claim above it, can file a written demand. The representative must then stop exercising the powers of the office except to preserve the estate. Alaska is the only state on this site where failure to give suitable bond within 30 days of receiving that notice is stated in the section as cause for removal and appointment of a successor.
- The filing fee can move without a legislature
- $250.00 comes from Administrative Rule 9, a Supreme Court rule. There is no session law to track and no amendment note to read — a court order changes it, so the rule document itself is what gets re-read.
- Publication is compulsory, and the newspaper is a district paper
- AS 13.16.450 says shall, not may. The notice runs once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the judicial district. Alaska has no counties, so the usual county-paper instruction does not apply. Publishing brings the creditor window down to four months from first publication; without it, claims arising before the death remain open for three years.
- The small-estate test has two ceilings and one of them is about vehicles
- Both limbs must hold: registered vehicles at or under $100,000.00 in total and other personal property at or under $50,000.00. The estate must consist only of those classes, so a single parcel of land takes the route away no matter how small everything else is.
- A judge can appoint someone to settle a small estate where nobody comes forward
- AS 13.16.700 lets a judge who learns that a person has died in the judge’s judicial district leaving only the property described in AS 13.16.680(a)(1), with no qualified person having appeared to take charge, immediately appoint a person, corporation or attorney to settle it. It is a third route, and it starts with the court rather than the family.
- The publisher disclaims its own text
- The Legislature’s statute site carries a printed notice that the online version is unofficial and directs readers to the printed statutes. We record that rather than smooth it over; the citation above names the section so the printed text can be checked against it.
Alaska’s affidavit runs on two ceilings at once
Up to $100,000.00 of registered vehicles and up to $50,000.00 of other personal property — both limbs must hold, and the estate must consist of nothing else. Miss either one and the affidavit route closes.
- The test, AS 13.16.680(a)(1). The entire estate, wherever located and less liens and encumbrances, consists only of vehicles subject to registration under AS 28.10.011 with a total value not exceeding $100,000.00, and personal property other than those vehicles not exceeding $50,000.00.
- Thirty days must have elapsed since the death, and no application or petition for the appointment of a personal representative may be pending or granted in any jurisdiction.
- On presentation of the affidavit, anyone indebted to the decedent or holding tangible personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action must pay or deliver to the claiming successor, and a transfer agent must change the registered ownership of shares.
- Second route, AS 13.16.690 — no dollar limit. Summary administrative procedure applies where the inventory and appraisal show the estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses and the reasonable and necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness. The representative may then distribute immediately without notice to creditors and file a closing statement under AS 13.16.695.
- Third route, AS 13.16.700. Where nobody qualified has appeared, a judge who learns of a death in the judicial district leaving only AS 13.16.680(a)(1) property may immediately appoint a person, corporation or attorney to settle the estate.
$100,000.00 is not the small-estate limit. It is the ceiling on registered vehicles alone, and it only helps if everything else in the estate also comes in at or under $50,000.00. Read together the two limbs are stricter than either number looks by itself.
Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.680, with AS 13.16.690, AS 13.16.695 and AS 13.16.700 — Alaska Statutes · Verified 7 Aug 2026
Check your own estate against the Alaska routes →
Three tools, in the order most people need them
Alaska probate cost questions
How much does an executor get paid in Alaska?
Reasonable compensation for services, and the section says nothing more than that. AS 13.16.430 publishes no percentage, no bands and no list of factors, and it has not been amended since 1972. If the will provides for compensation and there is no contract with the decedent about it, the personal representative may renounce that provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead, or renounce the right to all or any part of the compensation and file the written renunciation with the court. What is reasonable is tested on review under AS 13.16.440.
Does Alaska set probate attorney fees by statute?
No. There is no attorney fee schedule and no attorney fee section. AS 13.16.440 covers the attorney together with auditors, investment advisors and other specialised agents: on notice to interested persons, on petition, or on motion in a supervised administration, the court may review whether employing the person was proper and whether what they were paid was reasonable, and anyone who has received excessive compensation can be ordered to make refunds. Separately, AS 13.16.435 lets a personal representative who prosecutes or defends a proceeding in good faith recover necessary expenses including reasonable attorney fees from the estate, successful or not.
What does it cost to file for probate in Alaska?
250 dollars to open a trust or estate action, whatever the estate is worth. The figure is not in the statutes at all: it is set by the Alaska Supreme Court in Administrative Rule 9(b)(2), which is also where the related charges live. Depositing a will with the court for safekeeping is 50 dollars, registering a trust document is 50 dollars, filing ancillary probate letters from a foreign court is 50 dollars, and a guardianship, conservatorship or other protective proceeding is 150 dollars covering all services.
Does an executor have to post a bond in Alaska?
Yes, unless one of four things is true. Alaska runs the opposite way from most states: AS 13.16.255 says the personal representative shall execute and file a bond unless the will expressly waives surety bond for that person, the devisees or heirs file a written waiver, the representative is a qualified corporate fiduciary, or cash or collateral has been deposited with a state agency to secure performance. Where a bond is required and no amount is set, you file a sworn estimate of the personal estate plus the income expected over the next year and the bond must be for not less than that.
What is the small estate limit in Alaska?
Alaska has two ceilings and both must hold at once. The estate, wherever located and less liens and encumbrances, must consist only of registered vehicles worth no more than 100,000 dollars in total and other personal property worth no more than 50,000 dollars. Thirty days must have passed since the death and no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative may be pending or granted anywhere. There is also a second route with no dollar limit, where the inventory and appraisal show the estate does not exceed the allowances, administration costs, funeral expenses and last-illness medical bills added together.
Sources & verification
Every figure on this page was checked against the official source on the date shown. Alaska’s court fee comes from the Court System’s consolidated rules; the statutes come from the Legislature’s own site, which renders a chapter as one continuous page.
- Attorney fee — Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.440, with AS 13.16.435 akleg.govVerified 7 Aug 2026 · no attorney fee schedule and no attorney fee section · annual statutory re-check
- Executor compensation — Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.430 akleg.govVerified 7 Aug 2026 · unamended since §1 ch 78 SLA 1972 · low re-check priority
- Court filing fee — Alaska R. Admin. P. 9(b)(2) courts.alaska.govVerified 7 Aug 2026 at page 10 of the consolidated Rules of Administration · set by Supreme Court Order with no amendment history to watch · annual re-read of the rules PDF required
- Publication — Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.450, with AS 13.16.460 akleg.govVerified 7 Aug 2026 · publication is mandatory and the newspaper is a judicial-district paper · a legal-notice rate provision outside title 13 has not been located and is named on the page as an open job · annual statutory re-check
- Bond — Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.255, with AS 13.16.260 and AS 13.16.265 akleg.govVerified 7 Aug 2026 · bond required by default, four exceptions, $1,000.00 demand gate with a 30-day cure whose failure is cause for removal · annual statutory re-check
- Small estate — Alaska Stat. AS 13.16.680, with AS 13.16.685, AS 13.16.690, AS 13.16.695 and AS 13.16.700 akleg.govVerified 7 Aug 2026 · all read on the same continuous page · §1 ch 78 SLA 1972; am §4 ch 80 SLA 1984; am §1 ch 100 SLA 2008 — stable since 2008 · annual statutory re-check
- Publisher note — the Legislature’s statute site prints a notice that the online version is unofficial and directs readers to the printed statutes akleg.govRecorded 7 Aug 2026 · section numbers are printed on this page so the printed text can be checked directly
Researched and verified by John Terra · Methodology
This page is information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and fee schedules change; every figure here was verified on the date stamped beside it. For advice about your own situation, consult an attorney licensed in Alaska. Full terms: /disclaimer/ · Privacy
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