How Much Does Probate Cost in Alberta?

What Alberta probate court fees cost, by estate value

Alberta charges a single court fee to issue a grant of probate or administration (the court order confirming an executor’s authority to deal with an estate). The fee is not a percentage of the estate; it’s a flat dollar amount tied to which value tier the estate falls into, based on the net value of the estate’s property located in Alberta.

These figures come from Schedule 2 of Alberta’s Surrogate Rules, the regulation that governs estate court procedure and fees. The same schedule applies whether the application is for a grant of probate (where there’s a will) or a grant of administration (where there isn’t).

What “net value” means and why the tier matters

The fee tier is set by the net value of the estate’s property located in Alberta, meaning value after debts secured against that property are accounted for, not the estate’s gross worldwide value. This distinction matters because it’s the Alberta-specific net figure that determines which of the five tiers above applies, and because the jump between tiers is a hard line rather than a gradual scale: an estate valued at $125,001 pays $400, not a blended rate between the $275 and $400 tiers.

Because the fee flattens out at $525 for anything over $250,000, the court fee itself becomes a shrinking percentage of the estate as the estate gets larger. Smaller estates pay a fee that represents a larger share of the estate’s value, relative to what a large estate pays.

Fee waivers generally don’t apply to probate

Alberta’s Surrogate Rules include a general mechanism letting a court clerk waive fees for individuals who can’t afford to pay, based on guidelines set by the Minister of Justice. However, this waiver does not extend to the probate or administration fee itself: estates do not qualify for fee waivers under this section. In practice, this means the estate (not the executor personally) is expected to pay the applicable tiered fee from its own assets before or as part of applying for the grant, regardless of how liquid the estate is at the time of filing.

Sections and where this fee schedule comes from

The court fee schedule for probate and administration in Alberta is set out in Schedule 2 of the Surrogate Rules, Alta Reg 130/1995, and the fee-waiver exclusion for estates is set out in section 44.1 of the same regulation. Because regulations can be amended, it’s worth checking the current fee table on Alberta’s official court fees page before filing, in case the amounts have changed since this schedule was published.