Rhode Island Probate Accounting

Rhode Island probate accounting runs on three filings. You return an inventory within 90 days of your appointment, you file either a final account on form PC-7.1 or an affidavit of completed administration on form PC-7.3 when administration ends, and you file the creditor affidavit that § 33-11-5.2 requires before the court closes anything. The probate court then allows the account, and that decree settles the numbers for good.

Learn the vocabulary first, because Rhode Island never adopted the Uniform Probate Code. Nobody here files a "closing statement," a "verified statement," or a "financial report." Chapter 33-14 of the General Laws is titled "Accounts of Executors and Administrators," and the account is the document. The city or town Probate Court where the decedent lived is the court that allows it, since § 8-9-9 gives each probate court jurisdiction in the town or city in which it is established. This guide walks the inventory, the two closing routes, what belongs on the account, the tax gate that stops a filing cold, the notice rules, the decree, and the fee. Read it beside the duties that come before the account and confirm anything touching your own estate with the Probate Court for the decedent's city or town.

The Inventory Is the First Line of Every Rhode Island Account

Every figure on your account traces back to the inventory, which is why it carries the only fixed deadline in this area.

Section 33-9-1 gives every administrator and every executor 90 days after appointment, or a longer period the probate court allows, to return to the court under oath a true inventory of all the personal property, both tangible and intangible, and of all claims, rights, causes of action and other assets other than real property, with an appraisement as of the date of the decedent's death. The clock runs from your appointment, not from the death.

Four rules decide what lands on the page.

• You are the appraiser. Section 33-9-4(a) says the property in the inventory shall be appraised by the executor or administrator. Subsection (b) lets the court appoint one or more sworn appraisers on the petition of any party in interest, so an appraiser arrives only when somebody asks for one.
• The house stays off. Section 33-9-1 says other than real property in so many words. Section 33-9-29 handles the land separately: where the real property is devised, distributed, set out or descends to the heirs or the spouse, the executor or administrator records a certificate of descent, form PC-10.6, in the land evidence records of every city or town where the property sits. Real estate reaches your account only when rents or sale proceeds pass through your hands.
• Wearing apparel is excluded, jewelry is not. Section 33-9-2 keeps the wearing apparel of a deceased person out of the inventory and out of the assets available for debts, then carves jewels and watches back in.
• A debt you owe the decedent is an asset. Section 33-9-5 says naming a debtor as executor never extinguishes the debt, and all such debts shall be accounted for as assets by the executor unless the will directs otherwise. Inventory the loan you took from your parent.

Assets that surface after you file go on statewide form PC-10.4 Supplemental Inventory. The Rhode Island Department of State publishes the whole PC series and warns that several forms are not available online, so ask the clerk for anything the index does not carry rather than substituting a form from another state.

Two Ways to Close a Rhode Island Estate

Section 33-14-1 sets the requirement and then opens an escape hatch in the same sentence.

Every executor and administrator, except as provided in § 33-17-3, shall make out and return to the probate court, upon completion of the period of administration, and at such other times as the court requires under § 33-14-4, an account relative to the estate in his or her hands, with a statement of the liquidated balance due to or from the fiduciary. Two provisos follow. No interim accounting is required unless an interested party requests one, and the court may excuse an interim accounting for good cause shown.

The second proviso is the closing route most simple estates use. A fiduciary who is the sole beneficiary of the estate, or who files a release from each beneficiary, may file an affidavit of completed administration in place of a final account, together with evidence of three things:

1. that all Rhode Island estate and inheritance taxes for the estate have been satisfied,
2. that the funeral bill has been paid, and
3. that all claims filed against the estate have been satisfied.

That is statewide form PC-7.3 Affidavit Complete Administration, and the releases are form PC-7.7 General Release. The full account is form PC-7.1 Account. All three sit in the Department of State group headed "Accounts and Closing of an Estate," alongside the certification, the fee application and the creditor affidavit.

Pick the affidavit only when every beneficiary signs. A release from four of five beneficiaries buys you nothing, because the statute conditions the shortcut on a release from each one.

What Goes On the Account Itself

Section 33-14-2(a) writes the schedule for you. An account covers a stated period, and it splits into a charge side and a credit side.

Two lines in that table catch people out.

Property you never inventoried still gets charged to you. A refund check, a forgotten savings account, a class-action settlement that arrives in month eleven: all of it lands on the charge side whether or not it made the 90-day filing. That is also why the supplemental inventory matters.

Real estate money runs through the account even though the land does not. Rents you collected and proceeds of a court-authorized sale are charges against you, which puts a Rhode Island fiduciary who managed a rental property into full accounting territory.

Section 33-14-6 sets what comes back out. Executors and administrators shall be allowed in their accounts all reasonable and proper charges and disbursements made for the funeral of the deceased and in the execution of their trust. Read that against the order Rhode Island pays debts in, because a credit side that pays a general creditor ahead of a funeral bill in a short estate advertises a problem.

Money that sits still costs you. Section 33-14-9 lets the court charge a fiduciary in the account with interest for the unreasonable detention of money, at a rate up to 12 percent per year. Uninvested cash in a two-year administration is the usual trigger.

The Certification That Stands In for Your Receipts

Rhode Island runs a document rule that turns on whether a lawyer signs with you, and it changes how thick your filing is.

Section 33-14-2(b) says a fiduciary represented by an attorney does not have to submit originals or copies of the evidence behind the charges, losses and payments on the account, except the documentation § 33-14-8 requires for fees. Instead the account carries a certification substantially in the form set out in § 33-14-2.2, signed by the fiduciary and by the attorney.

A fiduciary not represented by an attorney, or one whose attorney declines to sign that certification, must file the certification and, on top of it, submit to the court for inspection copies of the front sides of all checks or other documents evidencing every charge, loss and payment, unless the court specifically waives that. Self-represented executors carry the heavier filing.

Subsection (d) defines the term narrowly: "attorney" means an individual who is a member in good standing of the Rhode Island Bar Association. An out-of-state lawyer does not qualify you for the lighter route.

Section 33-14-2.2 prints the wording. The attorney and the fiduciary certify that the accounting was prepared from information each has personally examined, and that to the best of their knowledge and belief it is a true and accurate representation of the accounts of the estate for the period indicated. It is notarized. Statewide form PC-7.2 Certification of Accounting reproduces it.

Subsection (c) keeps the court's hand free. The probate court may on its own motion order the fiduciary to produce originals or copies of the evidence behind any item, in any case where it deems the documentation necessary to its review. The certification lightens the filing, and it does not end the inquiry.

Your Fee Is Whatever the Court Considers Just

Section 33-14-8 is one sentence long: executors and administrators shall be allowed in their accounts such compensation for their services as the probate court shall consider just. Rhode Island publishes no percentage table, no tiered schedule and no cap, so the record you build is the whole argument.

Apply on statewide form PC-7.4 Application for Approval of Fiduciary's and Attorney's Fees. Keep a contemporaneous log of dates, hours and tasks from the week you qualify. Reconstructing one two years later is how a reasonable fee turns into a contested one.

Two related provisions round out the fee picture. Section 33-14-7 says that on an appeal from a decree admitting or refusing to admit a will to probate, the court shall allow the executor or administrator just and reasonable expenses including counsel and attorney fees for supporting or defending against the will, allowed in the account as part of the expenses of settling the estate. A will contest does not come out of your pocket. And § 33-14-5 removes the fee entirely from a fiduciary who neglects or refuses to account within 30 days after the time named in a citation.

The Tax Clearance That Gates the Final Account

Here is the rule most national articles about Rhode Island leave out, and it stops filings.

Section 44-23-36 says the final account of an executor, administrator or trustee shall not be allowed by the court having jurisdiction of the estate unless the account shows, and the court finds, one of three things about every chapter 44-22 tax then payable on property belonging to the estate:

• the taxes have been paid,
• payment of the taxes has been extended, or
• the property or interest is not liable for any chapter 44-22 tax.

Proof is built into the section. The receipt of the tax administrator for the amount of the tax is conclusive as to payment to the extent of the receipt, and the tax administrator's certification that an estate, property or interest is not liable is conclusive of that fact. Get the receipt or the certification into the file before you ask for a hearing.

The upstream deadline is separate and earlier. Section 44-23-1(a) requires every executor, administrator and heir-at-law to file with the tax administrator, within nine months after the death, a statement under oath showing the full and fair cash value of the estate, the amounts paid out for claims, expenses, charges and fees, and the names and addresses of everyone entitled to take a share as legatee or distributee. Subsection (b) charged a $50 filing fee for estates of decedents who died before January 1, 2025. Subsection (c) removed that fee for deaths on or after January 1, 2025.

Two more reasons to finish the tax step early. Section 44-23-9(a) makes the estate tax a lien on the estate until it is paid and makes all executors, administrators and trustees personally liable for it. Section 44-23-12 has the tax administrator notify the city or town recorder of deeds so the lien is noted in the land records, and notify the recorder again on discharge. A buyer's title search finds that entry. Our guide to the estate tax return every Rhode Island estate files covers the threshold and the return itself.

The Creditor Affidavit Every Closing Needs

Section 33-11-5.2 applies to both closing routes by its own terms. In order to close an estate, whether by accounting or affidavit of completed administration, the fiduciary shall submit an affidavit to the probate court in substantially the form the section prints.

The affidavit swears to one of two things:

1. that notice of the commencement of the estate was mailed to all known or reasonably ascertainable creditors, and to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services where the decedent was 55 or older, or
2. that no such notice was required, because the estate had no known or reasonably ascertainable creditors and the decedent was under 55.

Statewide form PC-10.14 Affidavit of Notice to Creditors is the version you file. The mailed notice itself is form PC-9.9. If you never sent it, sending it now and swearing to it is the honest fix, and it may cost the estate a late claim, which is one reason the six-month creditor window belongs at the front of the administration rather than the end.

One quirk worth knowing before you fill it in. The statutory caption reads "PROBATE COURT OF THE COUNTY ___ TOWN OF ___" even though Rhode Island counties run no probate court. The town line is the one that identifies your court.

Notice, Waivers and the Hearing on the Account

The court gives the notice on an account, and the petitioner gives the notice on most other filings.

Section 33-22-7(a) requires every probate court, before proceeding, to give notice to all parties known to be interested in seven listed cases, and item (5) is "in the making of any decree upon the account of an executor, conservator, or guardian." Subsection (b) preserves the court's discretion to order whatever notice it considers appropriate given the circumstances and whose interests may be affected.

Section 33-22-3 sets the mailing rule for a petition: at least 10 days before the hearing date, mail each person whose name and address § 33-22-2(3) requires in the petition a notice of the filing, the nature of the petition and the time and place of hearing, or a copy of the published newspaper notice. A person outside the continental United States gets at least three weeks. At or before the hearing you file an affidavit that notice went out, listing names, addresses, the mailing date, and a copy of the notice.

Section 33-22-11 is the advertising default where no special provision applies: once a week for at least two weeks, the first advertisement at least 14 days before the first hearing date, in a newspaper the court designates. The clerk collects that cost in advance.

Waivers shorten all of it. Under § 33-22-5, if all interested parties waive the § 33-22-3 notice in writing and assent to action at any time, the court may hear the matter without publication or further notice, and the decree carries the same force as if notice had been given. Statewide forms PC-9.1 Waiver or Advertising and PC-10.10 General Waiver are how that reaches the file, and skipping the newspaper is where most of the savings sit.

One notice rule is specific to accounts. Section 33-22-9 says that whenever the account of an executor, administrator or guardian contains a credit of the proceeds of any sale or mortgage of real estate, or of any interest in real estate, the notice given before settling that account shall state that the account contains the credit. Sold estate real estate during the administration? Say so in the notice.

The judge can also put you on the stand. Section 33-14-3 lets the court examine an executor or administrator on oath upon any matter relative to the accounts.

The Decree, the Appeal Clock and the Final Discharge

A decree allowing your account does something stronger in Rhode Island than in many states.

Section 33-14-11 says the settlement of the accounts of an executor or administrator by the probate court, or on appeal, shall be final and conclusive on all parties concerned. One qualifier follows: on the settlement of an account, all former accounts of the same fiduciary may be opened so far as to correct a mistake or error apparent in the settlement. Correcting an obvious arithmetic slip in an earlier account is allowed. Relitigating the old account is not.

The appeal window is short and it will not stretch. Section 33-23-1 sends any aggrieved person to the superior court for the county in which the probate court is established, on this schedule:

• Within 20 days after the probate judge executes the order or decree, file a claim of appeal with the probate clerk, request a certified copy, and pay the clerk's fees. That is form PC-9.3.
• Within 30 days after entry of the order or decree, file the certified copy and the reasons of appeal, specifically stated, in the superior court. You are restricted to those reasons unless the superior court allows amendments for cause.
• File an affidavit with the probate clerk proving the appeal was filed and docketed on time.

Subsection (c) is blunt: those deadlines are jurisdictional and may not be extended by either court. Subsection (b) makes the appeal a hearing de novo rather than a review for error, so the superior court is not bound by the probate court's findings. Line those dates against the Rhode Island probate timeline before you send any money out.

Then take the last step almost nobody takes. Section 33-18-27 lets a fiduciary who has paid or delivered the money or property as a decree required perpetuate the evidence by presenting to the court, within one year after the decree, an account of those payments with the vouchers. Proved to the court's satisfaction and verified by your oath, it is allowed as your final discharge and ordered recorded. That discharge forever exonerates you and your sureties from all liability under the decree, unless the account is impeached for fraud or manifest errors. It is the cleanest ending Rhode Island offers a fiduciary, and it expires one year after the decree.

Getting the Order of Distribution

An intestate estate closes through an order of distribution, and the dates come from chapter 33-13.

Section 33-13-11 sets the earliest date. At any time after six months from the first publication of the notice of qualification of the first administrator, the probate court may make an order of distribution, if it appears to the court's satisfaction that the administrator has paid all claims filed and allowed or proved.

Section 33-13-12 sets the outside date. Within two years after the first publication, or a further time the court allows for cause shown, administrators shall obtain an order of distribution ascertaining the distributees and the proportion of the personal estate due each. Form PC-10.3 is the order.

A will runs a parallel track. Section 33-13-6 lets an executor, and for cause shown requires an executor, to file within two years after the first publication a statement listing the legatees, the amounts to be paid, and the property to be turned over to each or held as trustee. Notice runs by advertisement at least twice each week for two successive weeks, and the probate clerk also mails notice by registered or certified mail to every interested person whose address is known. Section 33-13-7 has the court approve the statement as filed or amend and approve it, then order payment and satisfaction of the legacies. Where an appeal is taken, the court may order payment of the legacies the appeal does not touch.

What Accounting Costs in Rhode Island

Rhode Island charges for the appointment, and the appointment fee then covers most of what follows.

Section 33-22-21(a) sets the appointment fee at 1.0 percent of the personal property of the decedent over which the court has jurisdiction, with a floor of $30 and a ceiling of $1,500. The section then says those fees are in lieu of all subsequent filing and recording fees in the same proceedings, except as hereinafter provided. The fee is paid before the petition is filed, based on the petitioner's estimate, and is expressly subject to revision whenever the estimate turns out to be wrong, with a further payment or a rebate. Filing your account triggers no second percentage fee under that section.

Four figures apply to closing work:

Add $4.00 to any instrument filed for recording under § 33-22-21. Section 42-8.1-20(b) imposes that assessment for the Rhode Island Historical Records Trust, and the municipal clerk sends $3.00 of it to the state archives and keeps $1.00 locally. A published town figure of $34 rather than $30 reflects that assessment rather than a local markup.

No city or town may charge a different statutory amount. Section 33-22-29 requires each probate court to promulgate local administrative rules covering session dates and times, docketing procedure, special sessions and filing deadlines, and it forbids any local rule that would "expand, contract or otherwise vary any specific provision of title 33 or any other provision of the General Laws."

What does move between towns is the bundled total a clerk quotes you, because it can fold in the § 33-22-11 newspaper cost and the § 42-8.1-20 assessment. Some town schedules print a dollar line for accounts. Ask your clerk what that line covers, since § 33-22-21 sets no separate statutory fee for filing an account and the advertising charge is collected in advance. Read the total on your own town's published schedule, and do not carry a neighboring town's number across. The directory of Rhode Island Probate Courts by town points at each city and town clerk.

Two Estates That Never File an Account

Both exits are narrow, and each has a hard gate.

The § 33-17-3 bond. Section 33-17-3 lets an executor, if the will authorizes it or if the executor is the residuary legatee, give a bond conditioned to pay the funeral charges, debts and legacies of the testator and any allowance the court makes for the support of the widow and family. In that case the executor is not required to return an inventory, and an executor who is a residuary legatee need not render an account. The bond does not discharge the lien on the testator's real property for the debts, except as to property sold to a good faith purchaser for value. Section 33-14-1 names this section as its own exception, and the Rhode Island probate bond covers how the bond gets approved.

Voluntary informal administration. Section 33-24-1 covers a resident who died leaving an estate consisting entirely of personal property worth no more than $15,000, excluding tangible personal property, with no petition for letters filed. Section 33-24-2 runs the same track where a will names an executor. Chapter 33-24 imposes no probate account on a voluntary administrator, and it substitutes a payment order instead: § 33-24-1(e) has that administrator first discharge the necessary funeral and last sickness expenses and the necessary expenses of administration, without a fee for those services, then pay the debts in the § 33-12-11 order, then distribute the balance. Subsection (f) makes the voluntary administrator liable as an executor in his or her own wrong to everyone aggrieved by the administration. No account, and no fee for the work.

Reopening for Assets of $5,000 or Less

A forgotten savings bond after the file closes does not always mean a new court proceeding.

Section 33-14-13 lets an executor or administrator reopen an estate without the consent of the probate court, after a final account or an affidavit of completed administration, where the newly discovered assets do not exceed $5,000 in the aggregate. The route has four steps and one waiting period:

1. File an affidavit with the court listing every newly discovered asset and its fair market value. That is form PC-1.11.
2. Notify the persons who would take under § 33-1-10 in intestacy, listing the assets and values.
3. Notify the persons who would take under the will, where there is one.
4. File a statement of the proposed distribution of the assets or of the sale proceeds, and copy it to the same people.

If nobody objects within 30 days of the filing of the affidavit and statement, you may dispose of the assets as proposed. An objection, on form PC-1.14, sends the matter to a hearing the court schedules within 30 days of receiving it. When distribution is done, file a closing affidavit naming who received what and stating that the estate is finalized, which is form PC-1.13. Subsection (e) keeps you exposed: the fiduciary is liable in his or her own wrong to all persons aggrieved by actions taken under the section.

Keep three Rhode Island dollar figures apart. The $5,000 here is the reopening ceiling. The $15,000 in § 33-24-1 is the voluntary informal administration ceiling. The $1,500 in § 33-22-21 is the maximum appointment fee. A fourth figure sits in § 33-14-10: where a final account shows that the estate of a minor or a person non compos mentis in your hands does not exceed $5,000, the court may apply or dispose of that sum as it considers advantageous to that person.

What Happens If You Never Account

Rhode Island escalates in three stages, and the third one reaches your own money.

Stage one, the citation. Section 33-14-4 lets any probate court, on petition and whenever it deems proper, cite an executor or administrator with unsettled accounts to render an account at a time the citation fixes. Statewide form PC-5.2 Petition to Render Inventory and/or Account is how a beneficiary starts it.

Stage two, the forfeiture. Section 33-14-5 says a fiduciary who neglects or refuses to render an account within 30 days after the time named in the citation, or further time the court allows, shall be held accountable for the full value of the decedent's personal property, the proceeds of the sale of real estate and the rents received, with interest, and shall be entitled to no compensation for services.

Stage three, the bond. Section 33-17-26 allows suit on a probate bond, other than the § 33-17-3 bond, whenever it appears the fiduciary received the personal estate and, after being cited to do so, has not exhibited an inventory on oath or has refused or neglected to account on oath. Section 33-17-27 is the arithmetic: judgment for the full penalty of the bond, and execution for the full value of the personal estate proved to have come into the fiduciary's hands, without any discount, abatement, or allowance for charges and expenses of administration. Every legitimate expense drops out of the calculation.

A surety can move first. Section 33-17-13 lets a surety, or anyone else interested in the bond, apply in writing for an order requiring the principal to exhibit the condition of the estate. If the principal refuses the order, or the court finds on hearing that the estate is not being properly managed, the court shall remove the fiduciary and appoint a successor.

Co-fiduciaries have their own remedy. Section 33-14-12 lets one of two or more executors or administrators sue the others for an accounting where they refuse or neglect to apply the property to settling the estate or to pay the debts or funeral charges. Section 33-13-10 gives a residuary legatee a matching action.

Deadlines at a Glance

Session dates, docketing procedure and filing deadlines are set by each town's local administrative rules under § 33-22-29, so ask your clerk which day the court sits before you file.

Accounting Mistakes That Cost Rhode Island Fiduciaries

• Counting the 90 days from the death. Section 33-9-1 counts from your appointment, and an inventory filed late is what a § 33-14-4 citation is built on.
• Waiting for an appraiser. Section 33-9-4(a) makes you the appraiser. One arrives only when a party in interest petitions for it.
• Filing the affidavit with most of the releases. Section 33-14-1 requires a release from each beneficiary, or that you be the sole beneficiary. Anything short of that is a final account.
• Asking for a hearing before the tax receipt is in the file. Section 44-23-36 forbids the court to allow the account without it, so the hearing gets continued and the estate stays open.
• Leaving the creditor affidavit out. Section 33-11-5.2 applies to both closing routes, so an estate cannot close on either one without it.
• Skipping the real estate line in the notice. Section 33-22-9 requires the notice to say the account contains a credit for the proceeds of a sale or mortgage of real estate.
• Treating the 20-day appeal window as flexible. Section 33-23-1(c) makes it jurisdictional, and neither court may extend it.
• Letting the discharge year run out. Section 33-18-27 is available for one year after the decree, and it is what forever exonerates you and your sureties.

Getting Help

Bring in a licensed Rhode Island attorney where the estate runs a business, holds property that is hard to value, looks insolvent, draws an objection, or where a beneficiary asks the court to open a former account under § 33-14-11. Attorney representation also changes the paperwork under § 33-14-2(b), because the certification replaces the pile of check copies a self-represented fiduciary files. Where the estate has not opened yet, the Rhode Island probate guide covers which track it belongs on, and the Rhode Island creditor claims guide covers the six-month window your account has to report on.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is the Rhode Island estate inventory due?

Within 90 days after your appointment, or a longer period the probate court allows. R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-1 counts from the appointment rather than the death, and it covers all personal property, tangible and intangible, plus claims, rights, causes of action and other assets other than real property, appraised as of the date of death. Section 33-9-4(a) makes you the appraiser. Section 33-9-2 keeps the decedent's wearing apparel off the inventory, though jewels and watches stay on it.

Does every Rhode Island executor have to file a final account?

Almost every one. R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-1 requires an account on completion of the period of administration and at any other time the court orders under § 33-14-4. Two routes skip it. A fiduciary who is the sole beneficiary, or who files a release from each beneficiary, may file an affidavit of completed administration instead. And § 33-17-3 excuses both the inventory and the account for an executor who is a residuary legatee and gives a bond to pay the debts, legacies and allowances.

What is a Rhode Island affidavit of complete administration?

It is the short closing document that replaces a final account, on statewide form PC-7.3. Section 33-14-1 allows it only where the executor or administrator is the sole beneficiary of the estate or files a release from each beneficiary, and it must come with evidence that all Rhode Island estate and inheritance taxes have been satisfied, that the funeral bill has been paid, and that all claims filed against the estate have been satisfied. Section 33-22-21(a)(5) prices it at $30.

Does the probate court check estate taxes before allowing a final account?

Yes, and it is the step most fiduciaries miss. R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-23-36 says the final account shall not be allowed unless the account shows and the court finds that all chapter 44-22 taxes then payable have been paid, that payment has been extended, or that the property is not liable. The tax administrator's receipt is conclusive proof of payment, and the tax administrator's certification of non-liability is conclusive on that point.

How much does a Rhode Island executor get paid for the accounting work?

Whatever the probate court considers just. R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-8 allows executors and administrators such compensation for their services as the court finds just, and Rhode Island publishes no percentage schedule and no statutory cap. Apply on statewide form PC-7.4. Section 33-14-2(b) singles out fee documentation as the one category an attorney certification never covers, and § 33-14-5 strips compensation entirely from a fiduciary who ignores a citation to account for 30 days.

How long do I have to appeal a decree allowing an account in Rhode Island?

Twenty days for the claim of appeal and 30 days for the reasons, and both are jurisdictional. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-23-1(a)(1) you file a claim of appeal with the probate clerk within 20 days after the judge executes the decree. Subsection (a)(2) gives you 30 days from entry to file a certified copy of that claim plus your reasons in the superior court for the county where the probate court sits. Subsection (c) says neither court may extend those deadlines, and subsection (b) makes the appeal a de novo hearing.

Related Guides

• Rhode Island Executor Duties: the qualification, inventory and notice work that comes before the account.
• Rhode Island Creditor Claims: the six-month window and the notice your closing affidavit swears to.
• Rhode Island Estate Tax Guide: the nine-month statement and the clearance § 44-23-36 requires.
• Rhode Island Debt Payment Priority: the order the credit side of your account has to reflect.
• Rhode Island Probate Timeline: where the inventory, the claim window and the decree fall on the calendar.
• Rhode Island Probate Bond Requirements: the bond your account protects, and the one that excuses it.
• Rhode Island Probate Guide: how an estate opens and which track it belongs on.
• Rhode Island Probate Courts: all 39 city and town Probate Courts and where to file.

Every estate carries its own numbers. Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-9 the Probate Court for the city or town where the decedent lived is the court that answers questions about your account, so check your dates there or with a licensed Rhode Island attorney, and start at the Rhode Island probate hub for the rest of the series.

Sources:

• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-1, Times when accounts required. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-2, Charges and credits shown, investments. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-2.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-2.2, Form of certification. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-2.2.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-3, Examination of executor or administrator on oath. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-3.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-4, Citation to render account. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-4.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-5, Failure to account after citation. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-6, Charges and disbursements allowed. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-6.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-7, Expense of prosecuting or defending appeal on admission to probate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-7.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-8, Compensation of executors and administrators. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-8.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-9, Interest on unreasonable detention of money. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-9.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-10, Application of small amounts due to persons under disability. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-10.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-11, Conclusiveness of settlement of accounts. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-11.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-12, Accounting between executors and administrators. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-12.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-14-13, Reopening of estates and administrations without court approval for assets totaling five thousand dollars or less. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-14/33-14-13.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-1, Return of inventory of estate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-9/33-9-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-2, Wearing apparel. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-9/33-9-2.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-4, Appraisal of property. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-9/33-9-4.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-5, Debts owed by executor to decedent. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-9/33-9-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-29, Descent or distribution of real estate to be recorded. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-9/33-9-29.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-11-5.2, Fiduciary's affidavit regarding notice to creditors and OHHS. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-11/33-11-5.2.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-11-5, Time allowed for presenting claims, late claims, appeal. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-11/33-11-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-13-6, Filing of statement listing legatees, notice. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-13/33-13-6.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-13-7, Approval of statement listing legatees, order to pay legacies. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-13/33-13-7.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-13-10, Action for an accounting brought by residuary legatee. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-13/33-13-10.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-13-11, Time when order of distribution allowed. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-13/33-13-11.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-13-12, Time when order of distribution required. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-13/33-13-12.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-17-3, Bond to pay debts, legacies, and allowances. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-17/33-17-3.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-17-13, Order to principal on bond to exhibit condition of estate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-17/33-17-13.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-17-26, Suit on bond for failure to inventory or account for property. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-17/33-17-26.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-17-27, Judgment and execution in suit for failure to inventory or account. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-17/33-17-27.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-18-27, Perpetuation by fiduciary of evidence of payments and delivery, final discharge. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-18/33-18-27.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-3, Notice given by petitioner on filing of petition and hearing. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-3.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-5, Waiver of notice. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-7, Proceedings in which notice given by court. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-7.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-9, Notice of account containing credit for sale or mortgage of real estate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-9.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-11, Notice by advertisement. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-11.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21, Fees enumerated, hearing date to be noted on receipt. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-21.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-29, Local rules of probate court. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-29.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-23-1, Filing of claim of appeal, record, and reasons. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-23/33-23-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1, Voluntary informal administration of small estates. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-24/33-24-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2, Administration of small estates where executor named in will, voluntary executors. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-24/33-24-2.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-23-36, Payment of tax as prerequisite for allowance of final account. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-23/44-23-36.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-23-1, Statements filed by executors, administrators, and heirs-at-law. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-23/44-23-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-23-9, Assessment and notice of estate tax, collection powers, lien. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-23/44-23-9.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-23-12, Recording of lien against real estate, discharge. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-23/44-23-12.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-8.1-20, Rhode Island Historical Records Trust established. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE42/42-8.1/42-8.1-20.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-9, General probate jurisdiction. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly, Office of Legislative Data Systems. Publication Date: 2026 General Laws, accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE8/8-9/8-9-9.htm
• Title: Probate Forms. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State, Business Services Division. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/business-services/probate-forms
• Title: PC-7.1 Account. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC7.1-account.pdf
• Title: PC-7.2 Certification of Accounting. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC7.2-certification-of-accounting.pdf
• Title: PC-7.3 Affidavit Complete Administration. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC7.3-affidavit-complete-administration.pdf
• Title: PC-7.4 Application for Approval of Fiduciary's and Attorney's Fees. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC7.4-application-for-approval-of-fiduciarys-and-attorneys-fees.pdf
• Title: PC-7.7 General Release. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC7.7-general-release.pdf
• Title: PC-10.14 Affidavit of Notice to Creditors. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC10.14-affidavit-of-notice-to-creditors.pdf
• Title: PC-10.4 Supplemental Inventory. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC10.4-supplemental-inventory.pdf
• Title: PC-5.2 Petition to Render Inventory and/or Account. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC5.2-petition-to-render-inventory-and-account.pdf
• Title: PC-1.11 Affidavit of Newly Discovered Assets $5000 or Less and Statement of Proposed Distribution. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC1.11-affidavit-of-newly-discovered-assets-5000-or-less-and-statement-of-proposed-distribution.pdf
• Title: PC-1.13 Affidavit Complete Distribution $5000 or Less. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Accessed 2026-08-02. URL: https://docs.sos.ri.gov/documents/BusinessServices/PC1.13-affidavit-complete-distribution-5000-or-less.pdf

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