Skip to main content
Rhode Island Guardianship Planning
Support GuideRhode Island25 min read

Rhode Island Guardianship Planning

Rhode Island lets nobody name their own future guardian. Limited guardianship is the statutory default, and the documents you sign now can stop the petition.

By Settled Editorial

Rhode Island guardianship planning works backward from one gap. No Rhode Island statute lets an adult name their own future guardian. What the law gives you instead is a bar the judge has to clear: under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15-4 a court may not appoint a guardian at all where a less restrictive alternative meets the person's needs. The documents you sign while you are well decide that question before a petition is ever filed.

Every one of these cases is heard by a city or town probate court. Rhode Island has no county probate court. Section 8-9-9 gives each probate court jurisdiction "in the town or city in which it is established" over the appointment of guardians of persons and estates and of conservators, so the municipality where the person lives picks the courthouse. Under § 8-9-6 the town or city clerk serves as clerk of that court unless a charter or special law says otherwise.

Guardian, Limited Guardian, Conservator: Get the Words Right

Rhode Island uses guardian for an adult, and it uses limited to carry most of the meaning. Ask this state for an adult conservatorship when you mean personal care and you have asked for something narrower than what you want.

What you needRhode Island nameReachesStatute
Decisions in one or two areas of an adult's lifeLimited guardianOnly the areas the order names§ 33-15-4
Decisions in every area, after a finding of total incapacityGuardianPerson and estate§§ 33-15-2, 33-15-4
Management of an adult's property and nothing elseConservatorProperty only, never the person§ 33-15-44
Someone to raise your childGuardian of the person of a minorThe child's care and education§§ 33-15.1-5, 33-15.1-28
Someone to hold your child's moneyGuardian of the estate of a minorThe child's property§§ 33-15.1-4, 33-15.1-28

The four decision areas come straight from the petition form. Section 33-15-2 makes the petitioner say whether the proposed ward needs help with decisions in financial, health care, residential and relationship matters, or in all areas. A limited guardian then holds only the authority the limited guardianship order sets out (§ 33-15-8), the certificate of appointment states on its face that the guardianship is limited, the appointment is not a finding of legal incompetence, and the ward keeps every legal and civil right the order does not specifically suspend.

A conservator under § 33-15-44 is a separate and narrower appointment. The conservator takes "the charge and management of the property of the person subject to the direction of the court" and touches nothing about the person. A Rhode Islander who cannot properly care for their own property, "by reason of disability or upon his or her own election," may petition for one themselves, and the court gives at least 14 days' notice of the hearing where that person is not the petitioner. The conservator gives bond and files an inventory the way a guardian of an estate does (§ 33-15-45), and the court discharges the conservator once the conservatorship is no longer necessary.

Not sure which documents you need?

The free estate planning assessment builds a short document list for your situation.

Take the free estate planning assessment

Rhode Island Will Not Let You Name Your Own Guardian

Read § 33-15-6(e) and you have the whole of Rhode Island's advance-designation law: "In appointing a guardian, the court shall consider the wishes expressed by the individual found to be incapacitated as to preferences among individuals eligible to serve." The verb is consider. There is no statutory form, no witnessed designation, and no power of attorney clause that binds a later probate judge to appoint the person you picked.

Write your preference down anyway. The guardian ad litem appointed on every adult petition has to tell the court whether you object to a particular person being appointed, so a signed note naming your choice reaches the judge through that report.

The stronger move is to make the petition unnecessary. Five documents do that work in Rhode Island, and each one answers a different piece of the same question.

DocumentWhat it coversRhode Island rule
Durable power of attorneyMoney, property and business affairs§ 34-22-6.1
Health care power of attorneyMedical and treatment decisions§ 23-4.10-2
Supported decision-making agreementHelp understanding and communicating a decision you still make yourself§§ 42-66.13-4, 42-66.13-5
Custodial trustProperty handed to a trustee now and managed straight through incapacity§ 18-13-2
Will naming a guardian for your childrenWho raises your minor children§ 33-15.1-7

The Exact Words That Make a Rhode Island Power of Attorney Durable

Section 34-22-6.1 is the most commonly botched sentence in Rhode Island estate planning. A power of attorney survives the donor's incompetency only where the writing contains the words "This power of attorney shall not be affected by the incompetency of the donor," or "This power of attorney shall become effective upon the incompetency of the donor," or similar words showing that intent. With those words the agent keeps acting through incompetency and through later uncertainty about whether the donor is alive, and unless the document states a time of termination it does not lapse with age.

Know the ceiling on it. Where a guardian or conservator is later appointed, the agent accounts to that guardian rather than to the donor, and the guardian holds the same power the donor would have had to revoke, suspend or terminate the power of attorney. That is the sharpest argument for signing the document early: the agent you chose keeps working only as long as no court steps in over the top. The Rhode Island power of attorney guide walks through the statutory short form and how to sign it.

Health Care, Signed One of Two Ways

Section 23-4.10-2 prints a statutory durable power of attorney for health care and puts its execution rule in capital letters on the signature page: the document "WILL NOT BE VALID UNLESS IT IS SIGNED BY ONE NOTARY PUBLIC OR TWO (2) QUALIFIED WITNESSES WHO ARE PRESENT WHEN YOU SIGN OR ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SIGNATURE." The signer has to be at least 18 and a resident of the state.

Signing it matters more here than in most states, because Rhode Island never enacted a default surrogate list. No statute ranks a spouse ahead of an adult child, and no statute says who decides when nobody holds a document. Where health care is the missing piece, the fallback is a probate court guardian. The Rhode Island advance directive guide covers the health care power of attorney and the living will declaration together.

The Supported Decision-Making Agreement

Rhode Island enacted this in 2019 and said in the statute what it is for. Under § 42-66.13-5 an adult names at least one supporter, states the decisions the supporter may help with and the decisions the supporter may not touch, and keeps the decision itself. The agreement has to contain the elements of the form at § 42-66.13-10, be dated, and be signed by each party before two adult witnesses or a notary, with a separate declaration signed by each supporter.

Section 42-66.13-4 then hands you three protections a guardianship petition has to reckon with. All adults are presumed capable of managing their affairs. The manner in which an adult communicates is not grounds for deciding otherwise. And executing one of these agreements may not be used as evidence of incapacity.

The Statute Is Built to Say No

Rhode Island wrote the least-restrictive rule into the appointment section rather than leaving it to argument, and that is what makes planning documents worth so much here.

  • The bar. Section 33-15-4(a)(1) says the court "shall not appoint a guardian or limited guardian if the court finds that the needs of the proposed ward are being met or can be met by a less restrictive alternative or alternatives." Absent a finding of total incapacity, the judge must limit the powers to the terms best suited to let the person take part in decisions affecting them.
  • The required allegation. Section 33-15-2(4) makes every petition state "the steps which have been taken to utilize less restrictive alternatives to guardianship." A working power of attorney is not merely persuasive. It is the answer to something the petitioner has to plead.
  • The medical filing. Section 33-15-4(a)(2) requires a decision-making assessment tool, in the form shown at § 33-15-47, with the petition in every case. The proposed ward's primary care physician completes it where one exists and is available, otherwise a physician who has examined and treated the person does. A court may excuse it only on a temporary guardianship petition, only in extraordinary or emergency circumstances, and only on other competent evidence.

Naming a Guardian for Your Children

Section 33-15.1-1 makes the father and mother joint natural guardians of their minor children, equally charged with care, nurture, welfare and education, with equal powers and neither parent outranking the other. That natural guardianship stands until a probate court appoints a legal guardian or another court orders otherwise.

Your will is where you name the successor. Under § 33-15.1-7 every person authorized by law to make a will may appoint a guardian for their minor children by that will, whether the children were born when the will was made or afterwards, to continue during minority or for a shorter time. Two limits sit in the same sentence. The appointment is expressly "subject to the approval of the probate court," so it is a nomination the judge weighs rather than an automatic appointment. And in the case of husband and wife, the survivor, being otherwise qualified, is the guardian.

Fourteen Is the Age Rhode Island Listens To

A probate court appoints a guardian for a minor under 14. A minor of 14 or over may nominate their own guardian, and the court appoints that person on approving the choice (§ 33-15.1-5). The child's pick is not the last word: where a minor 14 or older neglects to choose after being cited to do so, chooses someone the court does not approve, or chooses someone who then fails to give the required bond, § 33-15.1-6 has the court appoint as though the minor were under 14.

Money the Child Inherits

A guardian of the person cannot touch a child's property, so the money question runs on its own track.

Rhode Island draws the line at $10,000. Section 33-15.1-1(b) makes a release given by both parents, or by a parent or guardian who has legal custody, or by a guardian or adult spouse of a minor spouse, valid and binding on the minor where the amount of the release does not exceed $10,000 in value. Below that line a family can close a child's injury claim without opening a probate case. Above it, expect a guardianship of the estate, which carries an inventory and appraisement within 30 days of appointment (§ 33-15.1-17) and an account filed with the probate court every year (§ 33-15.1-29).

Titling a gift to a custodian under Rhode Island's Uniform Transfers to Minors Act skips all of that. Section 18-7-14 gives the custodian all the rights, powers and authority over the custodial property that unmarried adult owners have over their own property, exercisable in that capacity only, with no bond, no inventory and no annual probate account. The custodian hands the property over at 21 where it came from a gift or from a will or trust, at 18 where a fiduciary or an obligor transferred it, or to the child's estate on an earlier death (§ 18-7-21).

What Happens When Nobody Planned

Rhode Island runs guardianship on notice clocks rather than on a hearing deadline. Nothing in chapter 33-15 says the hearing must happen within a set number of days of filing, so the pace follows the session calendar each city and town publishes for itself. The court process itself, from the decision-making assessment through the annual status report, is covered in Rhode Island guardianship.

The paperwork, by contrast, is uniform. Rhode Island probate forms are statewide, prescribed under § 33-22-16 and published by the Department of State, so every one of the 39 courts takes the same numbered PC forms: PC-2.3 to petition for a limited guardianship or guardianship, PC-2.5 for the decision-making assessment tool, PC-2.4 for the notice, PC-2.2 for a minor guardianship, PC-2.10 for a conservatorship, PC-2.8 for the annual status report and PC-2.9A to ask the court to end a guardianship. Take the number and title from the Department of State forms page rather than from a form kit, and never rely on a number a private site invented.

StepRhode Island ruleStatute
Guardian ad litemAppointed on the filing of every adult guardianship petition, from a rotating court list, and barred from later serving as that respondent's counsel or guardian§ 33-15-7
Personal service on the respondentAt least 14 days before any hearing, by a licensed Rhode Island process server in plain clothes who presents the notice and reads it aloud§ 33-15-17.1(a)
Mailed noticeAt least 10 days before the hearing to the spouse and heirs at law, any care facility administrator, and any protective services provider§ 33-15-17.1(e)
Guardian ad litem reportFiled at least 3 days before the hearing, with a copy to each attorney of record§ 33-15-7(c)
Appointed counselThe court shall appoint counsel where the respondent wants to contest, wants limits on the powers, or objects to a particular person, and has none§ 33-15-7(d)
Standard of proofClear and convincing evidence, at a hearing before a probate judge, with the Rhode Island rules of evidence applying§ 33-15-5
Criminal background checkEvery applicant applies to the attorney general, the state police or the local police for a nationwide fingerprint check and pays for it§ 33-15-6.1(a)
Temporary appointment pending that check10 days maximum§ 33-15-6.1(b)
BondRequired of every guardian; no surety where the guardian is the ward's spouse, parent, child, sibling or other heir at law and the court is satisfied waiver is warranted§§ 33-17-1, 33-17-1.3
Inventory and appraisementWithin 30 days of appointment, valued as of the date the guardian qualified§ 33-15-19
Annual accountEvery year. A guardian who ignores the court's citation for 30 days without sufficient excuse is accountable for the full value of the estate and loses all compensation§ 33-15-26
Annual status reportEvery year from a guardian with authority over the person, covering residence, condition, any perceived change in capacity, and the decisions taken§ 33-15-26.1
Appeal to the superior courtClaim of appeal within 20 days of execution of the decree, reasons of appeal within 30 days of entry, both jurisdictional, heard de novo§ 33-23-1

Two Rhode Island features surprise families who have handled a case in another state. The first is the temporary guardian, which carries no day count at all: under § 33-15-11 the appointment lasts until the question of appointing a guardian is decided or until the court discharges the guardian, and no appeal lies from it. Watch the docket for the decree rather than waiting for a renewal hearing. The second is the right against isolation at § 33-15-18.1. Unless the court authorizes it by order, a guardian may not restrict a ward's communication, visitation or interaction with other people, and the guardian has to notify the ward's closest relatives when the ward's residence changes, when the ward stays elsewhere for more than seven consecutive days, when the ward enters or leaves a nursing home or assisted-care living facility, when the ward is admitted for emergency or acute care, and, in person or by telephone, when the ward dies.

What It Costs

ItemRhode Island costStatute
Petition to appoint a guardian or conservator1.0% of the ward's personal property, never less than $30 and never more than $1,500, paid before filing on the petitioner's estimate and revised later§ 33-22-21(a)
Historical Records Trust assessment$4 on every instrument filed under § 33-22-21, which is why municipal charge sheets print $34 at the floor and $1,504 at the ceiling§ 42-8.1-20(b)
Certificate of appointment$5§ 33-22-21(a)(6)
Petition to remove a guardian or conservator$30§ 33-22-21(a)(2)
Petition for tax minimization or estate planning$30§ 33-22-21(a)(8)
Copies and certification$1.50 per page, $3.00 to certify§ 33-22-21(c)
Guardian ad litem feeCapped at $800, paid by the petitioner where no permanent guardian is appointed or by the guardian of the ward's estate where one is, with court discretion to allow more§ 33-15-7(h)
Veterans' guardianship$0. No probate fee is charged where the guardianship exists so the ward can receive United States veterans administration benefits§ 33-22-22
Good Samaritan guardianship$0 where the court grants it. The court may waive any and all filing requirements and court fees, and provides the waiver application form§§ 33-15-4.2, 33-15-4.5
Public welfare petitioner$0, and no surety on the bond, where the certifying director files so a respondent without funds can receive federally financed assistance§ 33-15-15
Expenses of prosecuting or defending the petitionAllowed by the court and paid by the guardian where a guardian is appointed§ 33-15-14
Physician's assessment tool$0 to $600 (national practice range, not a published Rhode Island rate)
Attorney fees for the petitioner$2,500 to $7,500 or more (national practice range, not a published Rhode Island rate)
Surety bond premiumRoughly 0.5% to 1% of estate value per year (national practice range, not a published Rhode Island rate)
Durable power of attorney and health care power of attorney$150 to $400 (national practice range, not a published Rhode Island rate)

The filing fee is the same in all 39 city and town probate courts, because the General Laws set it. That is why so many municipal probate pages carry no dollar figure at all. The rows marked as ranges are practice estimates rather than published Rhode Island rates. An uncontested case commonly reaches a decree in about one to two months, driven by the 14-day service and 10-day mailed notice runway plus the local session calendar, and a contested case or an appeal runs far longer. Those durations are estimates, not deadlines.

Mistakes That Send Rhode Island Families to Court

Waiting for a form that does not exist. Rhode Island publishes no advance guardian designation for an adult. If you are waiting to sign one, you are waiting forever. Sign the power of attorney and the health care power of attorney instead.

Leaving the durability words out. Section 34-22-6.1 asks for specific language. A power of attorney without it dies exactly when the family needs it, and that is the most common route from a kitchen table to a probate courtroom.

Asking for a conservator when you mean a guardian. Section 33-15-44 reaches property only. A conservator cannot consent to medical care, choose a residence, or decide anything about the person.

Naming a guardian only for your children and stopping there. Section 33-15.1-7 protects your kids. It does nothing for you.

Treating the will nomination as final. The probate court still approves the guardian your will names. Pick someone the judge will accept, tell that person, and name an alternate.

Signing a $10,000-plus settlement for a child without a guardianship. Section 33-15.1-1(b) binds a minor only up to $10,000. Past that, the release is not the end of the matter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I name my own guardian in advance in Rhode Island?

No. Rhode Island has no adult pre-need guardian designation statute. R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15-6(e) requires the probate court to consider the wishes expressed by the person about who should serve, which is a duty to weigh your preference rather than a duty to follow it. Sign a durable power of attorney under § 34-22-6.1 and a health care power of attorney under § 23-4.10-2 instead, because § 33-15-4 bars the court from appointing a guardian where a less restrictive alternative meets the need.

Does Rhode Island call it guardianship or conservatorship?

Both words are live, and they mean different things. Chapter 33-15 is "Limited Guardianship and Guardianship of Adults," so an adult who needs help with health care, finances, residence or relationships gets a guardian or a limited guardian. A conservator under § 33-15-44 handles property only and never the person, and a person who cannot properly care for their own property may petition for one themselves.

What is a limited guardianship in Rhode Island?

An appointment that grants decision-making authority only in the areas the order names. R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15-4 requires it unless a decision-making assessment tool supports a finding of total incapacity. The certificate of appointment states on its face that the guardianship is limited, the appointment is not a finding of legal incompetence, and the person keeps every legal and civil right the order does not specifically suspend.

How do I name a guardian for my children in Rhode Island?

In your will. R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15.1-7 lets any person authorized to make a will appoint a guardian for their minor children, including children born after the will was signed, to serve during minority or for a shorter time. The appointment is subject to the probate court's approval, and where a husband and wife are involved the surviving parent, being otherwise qualified, is the guardian.

What does it cost to file for guardianship in Rhode Island?

R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21 charges 1.0% of the ward's personal property with a $30 floor and a $1,500 ceiling, plus the $4 Historical Records Trust assessment under § 42-8.1-20, so municipal charge sheets print $34 and $1,504. The fee is identical in all 39 city and town probate courts. A veterans' guardianship costs nothing under § 33-22-22, and the court may waive fees for a good Samaritan guardianship under §§ 33-15-4.2 and 33-15-4.5.

Which Rhode Island probate court hears a guardianship?

The one in the city or town where the proposed ward lives, or where an out-of-state proposed ward has property. R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-15-2 keys the filing to that municipality and § 8-9-9 gives each probate court jurisdiction in the town or city where it is established. Rhode Island has no county probate court and no statewide probate case portal, so the town of residence is the whole answer.

Next Steps

Two signatures carry most of the weight in Rhode Island. A durable power of attorney with the § 34-22-6.1 wording and a health care power of attorney signed the § 23-4.10-2 way answer the exact question § 33-15-4 puts to the judge: are this person's needs already being met without a guardian. Start with the Rhode Island power of attorney guide for the financial half and the Rhode Island advance directive guide for the medical half.

Then set the rest of it down on paper. Your will is where you name a guardian for your minor children under § 33-15.1-7, and a custodial trust or a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act account keeps a child's money out of a guardianship of the estate. The Rhode Island estate planning basics guide pulls those pieces into one checklist.

This page is general information about Rhode Island guardianship and conservatorship. Every case turns on its own facts, so confirm anything that affects your family with the probate court for your city or town, or with a licensed Rhode Island attorney, before you sign or file.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Prefer to talk it through? Connect with an estate-planning attorney

Settled Estate is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

Information current as of August 2, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Rhode Island can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

All Rhode Island guides← Back to all articles