Rhode Island Probate Forms Finder

Important Notes

• -Rhode Island has no county probate court and no county government. Probate is heard by a court in each of the 39 cities and towns, and Section 8-9-11 sends you to the one for the city or town where the person LIVED
• -The forms are statewide even though the courts are municipal. The Rhode Island Department of State publishes the PC series under Section 33-22-16 and every city and town uses it
• -Copy the form number from the printed name, not from the PDF file path. The file is PC1.5 but the form is PC-1.5, and the hyphen matters when you ask a clerk for it
• -PC-2.9A and PC-2.9B are different forms, and so are PC-3.1A and PC-3.1B. Shortening either pair to a bare PC-2.9 or PC-3.1 invents a number the Department of State does not print, and in the bond pair it destroys the surety distinction that decides which one you file
• -The PC series has real gaps within its range, and the index says several forms are not available online. A gap is unknown, not inferable: ask the probate clerk rather than picking a nearby number
• -The opening fee is 1.0 per cent of the decedent's PERSONAL PROPERTY, minimum $30 and maximum $1,500 under Section 33-22-21, plus the $4 Section 42-8.1-20 assessment. Cities and towns publish that as $34 and $1,504
• -The fee base is personal property only, matching the Section 33-9-1 inventory of everything other than real property. A fee estimate that includes the house is wrong, and the $1,500 ceiling then hides the error by clamping it
• -The fee flattens at both ends: $34 applies up to $3,000 of personal property, and $1,504 from $150,000 upward
• -The fee is paid BEFORE the petition is filed, on your own estimate, and is revised later if the estimate was wrong. A further payment or a rebate follows
• -A certificate of appointment is $5. It is the document that proves your authority to banks and transfer agents, so order several
• -Certified copies are $1.50 per page plus $3.00 to certify
• -Fees are uniform statewide. A city or town may direct under Section 33-22-25 that the fees go into the municipal treasury and pay the judge or clerk a salary instead, but that changes where the money goes, not the amount. Section 33-22-29 lets a court adopt local administrative rules and expressly forbids any local rule that would expand, contract or otherwise vary a provision of Title 33
• -The inventory is due within 90 days after your appointment and covers personal property only
• -The six month creditor claim period, the spousal life estate waiver, the elective share petition, the Section 33-1-6 set off and the family support allowance all run from the FIRST PUBLICATION of notice of the fiduciary's qualification, not from the date of death
• -A probate appeal is two filings: the claim of appeal to the probate clerk within 20 days of execution of the decree, and the reasons of appeal to the superior court within 30 days of entry. Both are jurisdictional
• -Rhode Island has NO transfer on death deed. Title 34 was enumerated chapter by chapter at the official code and contains no death triggered deed
• -Rhode Island fixes NO statutory percentage for executor compensation. The court allows what it considers just, on form PC-7.4
• -Every estate files an estate tax statement within nine months of the death on Form RI-706, taxable or not. There is no filing fee for a death on or after 1 January 2025