How much does probate cost in Idaho?
8 Aug 2026
Idaho sets no percentage for either fee — the personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation, and the attorney is paid as a necessary expense. What Idaho does publish is the price of the newspaper notice, in cents, which almost no state does.
Eight cents per pica of column line for the first insertion and seven cents for each one after, with the number of insertions fixed at three — so the publication cost here is genuinely computable, and the only unknown is how long the notice runs. Two other things shape an Idaho bill. Most executors post no bond at all unless somebody with more than $1,000.00 at stake demands one. And there is a second small-estate route with no value limit whatever, open where the surviving spouse is the sole beneficiary — at the price of personally taking on every debt of the estate.
Idaho Code §15-3-719 — Idaho Statutes, published by the Idaho Legislature · Verified 6 Aug 2026
Informational only, not legal advice. Figures verified on the date stamped. Details: /disclaimer/
Work it out on your own number
Neither professional fee computes in Idaho. Two other things do: the court’s civil filing fee, and — unusually — the newspaper’s rate, which the statute prints in cents.
| Court — filing a civil case in the district court | $175.00 |
| Court — cases assigned to the magistrate division | $120.00 |
| Court — administrative surcharge on each civil case | $10.00 |
| Court — making an account required under title 15 | $9.00 |
| Court — petition for distribution of the estate | $25.00 |
| Court — demand for bond before a representative is appointed | no fee |
| Publication — per pica in a column line, first insertion | $0.08 |
| Publication — per pica in a column line, each subsequent insertion | $0.07 |
| Publication — table and figure matter, first insertion then subsequent | $0.09 then $0.07 |
Worked through: the notice to creditors runs three times, so each pica of column line costs $0.22 across the full run — eight cents for the first insertion plus seven cents for each of the two that follow. A half pica is charged at half the full-pica rate, and the type used must be no smaller than seven point and no greater than eight. With the surcharge, the court filing fee is $185.00 in the district court and $130.00 in the magistrate division.
Which division hears an Idaho probate — and therefore whether the $175.00 or the $120.00 applies — is not settled by the fee statute itself, so this page prints both figures and claims neither as the Idaho probate filing fee. Ask the clerk of the district court in the county where the estate will be opened.
What each part costs
Every row is one figure, one source, one date. Where Idaho fixes no price, the row says so instead of guessing.
| Fee | Amount or formula | Set by | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney feeOrdinary services | No statutory rateIdaho fixes no attorney fee for probate. The relevant part of the probate code contains no attorney compensation section at all — the contents list was read end to end. What the statute gives instead is an entitlement and a check. The entitlement: a personal representative, or a person nominated as one, who defends or prosecutes any proceeding in good faith, whether successful or not, is entitled to receive from the estate their necessary expenses and disbursements including reasonable attorney fees incurred. The check: on notice to interested persons the court may review the propriety of employing any attorney and the reasonableness of the compensation of any person so employed, and any person who has received excessive compensation may be ordered to make appropriate refunds. | Agreement, reviewable — with a refund power | Idaho Code §15-3-721, with §15-3-720 §15-3-720 is unamended since 1971 · part 7 read end to end; no fee section exists | 8 Aug 2026 |
| Personal representativeExecutor or administrator | No statutory rateA personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services — that is the whole of the standard, and it applies the same whether or not there is a will. Where the will provides for compensation and there is no contract with the person who died, the representative may renounce that provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead. Once qualified, the will’s figure stands. A representative may also renounce the right to all or any part of the compensation, and a written renunciation of fee may be filed with the court, which is what most family representatives do. | Reasonable compensation | Idaho Code §15-3-719 Unamended since 1971 | 6 Aug 2026 |
| Court filing feeOne civil fee, plus two mid-case charges | $175.00, or $120.00Idaho charges a general civil filing fee rather than a probate-specific one: $175.00 to file a civil case of any type in the district court, except $120.00 for cases assigned to the magistrate division, plus a $10.00 administrative surcharge on each civil case including each appeal. Two further fees fall due inside the probate rather than at the start, which is unusual: $9.00 for making an account required under the probate title, and $25.00 on filing the petition of the representative — or of any person interested in the estate — for distribution of the estate. One thing is expressly free: there is no filing fee for a demand for bond before a personal representative is appointed. And an indigent person may be allowed to commence an action without prepayment of fees, on a sworn affidavit of inability to pay. | Statute — flat, statewide | Idaho Code §31-3201A(1), (5) and (6), with §31-3201(3) and §31-3220 The magistrate-division assignment rule for probate sits outside these sections and is not read here | 6 Aug 2026 |
| Newspaper publicationNotice to creditors — Idaho prints the rate | $0.08 per pica, then $0.07Idaho fixes what a newspaper may charge. For all official notices required by law to be published in any Idaho newspaper: eight cents per pica in a column line for the first insertion and seven cents per pica for each subsequent insertion; for table and figure matter, nine cents for the first insertion and seven cents for each after; a half pica is charged at half the full-pica rate; and the type used must be no smaller than seven point and no greater than eight. Notices are published once each calendar week on the same day. On the schedule, note the word may: on appointment a personal representative may publish a notice to creditors once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, giving creditors four months from the date of first publication or be forever barred. A creditor given written notice has four months from the published notice or sixty days from the mailing, whichever is later. The representative is not liable to any creditor or successor for giving or failing to give the notice — but where medical assistance was paid on behalf of the person who died when they were fifty-five or older, written notice is mandatory. | Statute — a printed per-pica rate | Idaho Code §60-105(2), with §60-109 and §15-3-801 §60-105(1) prints a superseded 2007 rate on the same page; subsection (2) governs | 8 Aug 2026 |
| BondUsually none — until somebody demands one | No bond by default; a floor if ordered
|
Statutory floor, on the representative’s sworn estimate | Idaho Code §15-3-603, with §15-3-604 and §15-3-605 §15-3-605 last amended 1974 | 8 Aug 2026 |
The $175.00 and $120.00 are not two figures to choose between at will. They depend on which division the case is assigned to, and the rule that decides that sits outside the fee statute. This page prints both rather than guessing, which is why no single Idaho filing total appears anywhere on it.
How the Idaho sources are linked. The Idaho Legislature publishes one clean page per section, so every source above points at the exact section we read.
What can change the bill — allowances, waivers and one-off charges
- Two fees fall due mid-probate, not at filing — $9.00 each time an account required under the probate title is made, and $25.00 on the petition for distribution of the estate. Idaho is the only state on this site with statutory mid-case probate court fees separate from the filing fee, and a budget built on the filing fee alone will miss them.
- A demand for bond before appointment is free. The fee statute expressly carries no filing fee for it.
- The administrative surcharge applies to appeals too — $10.00 on each civil case, including each appeal.
- Indigency relief is available. The court may allow an indigent person to commence an action without prepayment of fees, on a sworn affidavit of inability to pay.
- Publication is permissive, so the cost is avoidable — but publishing is what buys the four-month bar, so skipping it leaves the estate exposed to late claims for longer.
- One notice is not optional. Where medical assistance was paid on behalf of the person who died when they were fifty-five or older, the representative shall provide written notice under the medical assistance recovery provisions.
Idaho Code §31-3201A(1)(b)(iv), (5) and (6); §31-3201(3); §31-3220; §15-3-801(a), (c) and (d) — Idaho Statutes · Verified 8 Aug 2026
What changes YOUR number in Idaho
- Idaho is the one state where the notice cost can be worked out in advance
- A fixed statutory rate per pica of column line, plus a fixed number of insertions — three, once a week. The only unknown is how many lines the notice runs to, which the newspaper can tell you before it sets the type. Nowhere else on this site are both halves of the publication cost fixed by statute.
- The good-faith fee rule is a Uniform Probate Code feature, not an Idaho one
- A representative who brings or defends a proceeding in good faith gets necessary expenses and reasonable attorney fees from the estate win or lose. It reads as a striking protection, and it is — but the same words appear in every state that adopted this part of the Uniform Probate Code, so it is not a reason to prefer Idaho.
- A will’s bond direction is reversible in both directions
- Most states let a will waive a bond and stop there. Idaho lets the court go either way: a will relieving the representative of bond is honoured unless an interested party asks and the court is satisfied a bond is desirable, and a bond that a will requires may be dispensed with in formal proceedings where the court finds it unnecessary.
- A bond demand freezes the administration
- Once someone with more than $1,000.00 at stake files a written demand, the representative must stop exercising any powers of office except as necessary to preserve the estate, until the bond is filed or the requirement ceases. Thirty days’ failure is express cause for removal. That is a real hold, not a formality — and it is why the free demand-for-bond filing matters.
- The small-estate base is the entire estate, not just personal property
- Idaho’s $100,000.00 counts the fair market value of the entire estate subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances. Nebraska uses the same figure on personal property only. Two states, the same number, different answers — which is why the base matters more than the headline.
- The spousal route has no ceiling, and a real price
- Where the surviving spouse is the sole devisee or beneficiary, summary administration is available whatever the estate is worth, and neither the petitioner nor the spouse need appear in person, nor need any attorney appear. The trade is stated plainly in the statute: the electing spouse assumes and becomes liable for any and all indebtedness that might be a claim against the estate. It is a genuine saving and a genuine risk.
- The notice does not have to be published at all
- Publication is permissive, and the representative is expressly not liable to any creditor or successor for giving or failing to give it. Most estates publish anyway, because that is what starts the four-month clock — but it is a decision rather than a duty.
Idaho has two routes: $100,000 by affidavit, and one with no limit at all
The affidavit route turns on value. The second turns on who inherits, and carries no ceiling whatever.
- Route 1 — affidavit, $100,000.00. Thirty days after the death, a person holding the decedent’s personal property must deliver it to the successor on an affidavit stating that the fair market value of the entire estate subject to probate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the figure; that thirty days have elapsed; that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative or for summary administration is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction; and that the claiming successor is entitled to payment or delivery.
- The base is the entire probate estate, not personal property only. That is a wider test than several states using the same number, and it is the detail most often got wrong.
- Route 2 — summary administration, no value cap. Where a person dies testate or intestate leaving a surviving spouse as the sole devisee or beneficiary, the spouse may petition for summary administration. On a finding that the couple were duly married and the spouse is sole heir or devisee, a decree issues with the same effect as a formal decree of distribution.
- Nobody has to attend. Neither the petitioner nor the spouse need appear in person, and no attorney need appear.
- The price of route 2 is personal liability. The electing spouse assumes and becomes liable for any and all indebtedness that might be a claim against the estate, and there is no administration at all. On an estate with unknown or disputed debts, that is a decision worth advice.
- The Department of Health and Welfare has a successor right under the affidavit route for medical assistance recovery.
Idaho Code §15-3-1201 and §15-3-1205 — Idaho Statutes · Verified 6 Aug 2026
Check your own estate against the Idaho route →
Three tools, in the order most people need them
Idaho probate cost questions
How much does an executor get paid in Idaho?
Idaho sets no percentage and no schedule. A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for their services, and that is the whole of the standard — the same whether or not there is a will. If the will names a figure the representative can turn it down before taking office and take reasonable compensation instead, unless there was a contract with the person who died. They can also give up the fee altogether by filing a written renunciation with the court.
Does Idaho set probate attorney fees by statute?
No. The relevant part of the probate code contains no attorney compensation section at all. The fee is agreed between the attorney and the estate, and if anyone with an interest objects the court can review whether employing the attorney was proper and whether the compensation was reasonable — and can order excessive compensation refunded. Separately, a representative who brings or defends a proceeding in good faith is entitled to reasonable attorney fees from the estate whether successful or not.
What does it cost to file for probate in Idaho?
Idaho charges a general civil filing fee rather than a probate-specific one: one hundred and seventy-five dollars in the district court, or one hundred and twenty for cases assigned to the magistrate division, plus a ten dollar administrative surcharge. Which division hears a given probate is not settled by the fee statute, so ask the clerk. Two more fees fall due inside the case — nine dollars for making an account and twenty-five dollars on the petition for distribution. A demand for bond before a representative is appointed is free.
Does an executor need a bond in Idaho?
Usually not. In an informal probate no bond is required unless a special administrator is appointed, the will expressly requires one, or somebody demands one. The demand right is the one to watch: anyone with an interest worth more than a thousand dollars, or a creditor owed more than that, can file a written demand, and until it is resolved the representative must stop doing anything except preserving the estate, with thirty days before that becomes cause for removal. Where a bond is ordered without a stated amount, the representative swears their own estimate of the personal estate plus a year’s expected income and the bond must be for at least that.
Does Idaho have a small estate affidavit?
Yes, at one hundred thousand dollars, measured on the fair market value of the entire estate subject to probate wherever located, less liens and encumbrances — a wider base than states that count personal property only. Thirty days must have passed and nobody may have applied for appointment or for summary administration anywhere. There is also a second route with no value limit at all: where the surviving spouse is the sole beneficiary they can petition for summary administration whatever the estate is worth, without anyone appearing in person — but the electing spouse becomes personally liable for every debt that might be claimed against the estate.
Sources & verification
Every figure on this page was checked against the official source on the date shown. The Idaho Legislature publishes one clean page per section, so each link below opens the exact section we read.
- Attorney fee — the stated absence, the review power and the good-faith entitlement — Idaho Code §15-3-721, with §15-3-720 legislature.idaho.govVerified 8 Aug 2026 · title 15 chapter 3 part 7 contents list read end to end; no attorney compensation section exists · §15-3-720 unamended since 1971 · annual statutory re-check
- Personal representative’s compensation — Idaho Code §15-3-719 legislature.idaho.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · unamended since 1971 · annual statutory re-check
- Court filing fee, surcharge and the two mid-case fees — Idaho Code §31-3201A, with §31-3201(3) and §31-3220 legislature.idaho.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · read as a PDF · §31-3201H was read and does not apply — criminal offences and infractions only · annual statutory re-check
- Publication rate — Idaho Code §60-105(2), with §60-109 legislature.idaho.govVerified 8 Aug 2026 · in force on and after 1 October 2008 · subsection (1) on the same page prints a superseded 2007 rate · annual statutory re-check
- Notice to creditors — Idaho Code §15-3-801 legislature.idaho.govVerified 8 Aug 2026 · added 1971, amended 1991 and 1998 · publication is permissive · annual statutory re-check
- Bond — default, amount and the demand gate — Idaho Code §15-3-603, with §15-3-604 and §15-3-605 legislature.idaho.govVerified 8 Aug 2026 · §15-3-605 added 1971, amended 1974 · annual statutory re-check
- Small-estate affidavit — Idaho Code §15-3-1201 legislature.idaho.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · amended six times, last in 2006 · annual statutory re-check
- Summary administration where the spouse is sole beneficiary — Idaho Code §15-3-1205 legislature.idaho.govVerified 6 Aug 2026 · amended 1974, 2003 and 2005 · annual statutory re-check
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 Idaho. Full terms: /disclaimer/ · Privacy
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