How To Become A Probate Paralegal: What It Is and Career Path

What is a probate paralegal and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average probate paralegal salary is $60,135. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an legal support services major. It usually takes 6-12 months of experience to become a probate paralegal. Probate paralegals with a Certified Paralegal (CP) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 14% and produce 49,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreProbate ParalegalUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $60,135

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.0

Growth rate 14%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.41%

Asian 5.80%

Black or African American 9.42%

Hispanic or Latino 19.34%

Unknown 4.85%

White 60.19%

Gender

female 89.47%

male 10.53%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

7.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.5

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a probate paralegal

Explore probate paralegal education requirements

Most common probate paralegal degrees

Bachelor's

44.3 %

Associate

29.7 %

Certificate

10.8 %

Start to develop specific probate paralegal skills

Skills	Percentages
Probate	36.88%
Guardianship	12.16%
Litigation	9.82%
Pleadings	7.48%
Law Firm	5.66%

Complete relevant probate paralegal training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New probate paralegals learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a probate paralegal based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real probate paralegal resumes.

Research probate paralegal duties and responsibilities

Manage large volume of documents, enabling attorneys to easily identify key documents that are critical for mediation and arbitration.
Coordinate with outside counsel regarding probate litigation matters.
Prepare subpoenas, deposition summaries and discovery documents.
Organize large complex litigation cases.

Prepare your probate paralegal resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your probate paralegal resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a probate paralegal resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable probate paralegal resume templates

Build a professional probate paralegal resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your probate paralegal resume.