Rhode Island Probate Guide

Types of Probate in Rhode Island

Rhode Island probate does NOT run through county courts. Its five counties still exist geographically but hold no county government and run no court. R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-9 gives each probate court jurisdiction "in the town or city in which it is established", so there are 39 probate courts, one for every city and town, and § 8-9-11 sends the estate to the court for the place where the decedent lived. In most cities and towns the town or city clerk is also the probate clerk under § 8-9-6, though several home-rule charter municipalities separate the two offices. Where the estate is small enough it is settled on a sworn statement instead of a full administration: § 33-24-1 voluntary informal administration on form PC-1.10 where there is no will, and § 33-24-2 voluntary executor on form PC-1.9 where a will names one. Both share one $15,000 ceiling and both reach only an estate "consisting entirely of personal property", so any solely owned Rhode Island real estate disqualifies the route at any value rather than counting toward the ceiling. The $15,000 is measured on what would otherwise be listed on a § 33-9-1 probate inventory and is expressly exclusive of tangible personal property, so a car and household goods do not count against it. At least 30 days must have passed since the death and no petition for letters may be on file. Everything else is a full administration: the court admits the will on petition PC-1.5 or grants administration on PC-1.1, appoints an executor or administrator, and supervises the inventory, the creditor period, the estate tax statement and the final account. Fees are unusual in that there is no flat fee to open an estate. Section 33-22-21(a) charges one percent (1.0%) of the decedent's PERSONAL property over which the court has jurisdiction, never less than $30 and never more than $1,500, so the fee stops responding to estate size once personal property reaches $150,000. Real property is outside the base entirely, because § 33-9-1 keeps it off the probate inventory, which is why a house-rich, cash-poor estate pays the minimum. Section 42-8.1-20(b) adds a flat $4.00 Historical Records Trust assessment to every instrument filed under § 33-22-21, so counters collect $34 to $1,504. The amounts are identical in all 39 courts, because § 33-22-29 forbids a local rule from varying any provision of title 33, so choosing a city or town decides where you file rather than what you pay. Newspaper advertising under § 33-22-11 is the one probate charge that genuinely differs locally, since the clerk collects it in advance at the newspaper's own price. Probate forms are statewide: the Department of State publishes the PC series at sos.ri.gov. Rhode Island has NOT enacted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, so there is no transfer-on-death deed and no beneficiary deed for real estate here, and no transfer-on-death designation on a vehicle title either.

Rhode Island Estate Law Overview

Rhode Island Probate Questions