Rhode Island Probate Guide

Rhode Island probate is the court process that proves a will, appoints an executor or administrator, pays the decedent's debts and taxes, and passes what is left to the heirs or beneficiaries. It runs under R.I. Gen. Laws Title 33, and the case is heard by the Probate Court of the city or town where the decedent lived.

Start with the fact that shapes every other answer on this page. Rhode Island has no county probate court. The five counties carry no county government and hear no probate matters, so the court that opens your estate sits in a city or town hall. Section 8-9-9 gives every probate court jurisdiction "in the town or city in which it is established," and § 8-9-6 makes the town or city clerk the clerk of that court unless a law or charter provides otherwise. All 39 cities and towns run one. Look up your town in the Rhode Island Probate Court directory before you fill out a single form.

Read this as a planning map rather than a filing packet. If the death is recent, work through the Rhode Island first steps guide first, because several tasks come before any court filing.

Where a Rhode Island Estate Gets Filed

Venue follows the decedent, and two clocks start at the death.

Anyone holding the original will, other than a probate clerk, must deliver it into the probate court with jurisdiction over the probate, or hand it to a named executor, within 30 days after notice of the death. An executor who receives it that way has 30 days of their own to deliver it into court. A person who neglects that duty without reasonable cause, after being cited by the court, may be adjudged in contempt and held until the will is produced, and stays liable to any aggrieved party for the damage caused (§ 33-7-5).

A second 30-day rule binds a different person. Someone named executor who has the will and neglects or refuses to present it for probate within 30 days after the death, or within 30 days after learning of the nomination, is treated as having declined the office (§ 33-8-3). Those two rules get conflated constantly, and the consequences differ.

The petition itself has to state the decedent's domicile under oath, along with any other facts the court's jurisdiction depends on, plus the names and addresses of the surviving spouse and heirs at law (§ 33-22-2). Where there is no will, administration goes to the surviving spouse or one or more of the next of kin, or to them jointly. If they neglect to apply within 30 days after the death, or the court finds them unsuitable, or they renounce, the court may appoint any suitable person on the petition of a party in interest (§ 33-8-8). The Rhode Island intestate succession guide covers who inherits when there is no will.

Get the vocabulary right, because it changes what you search for. Rhode Island has a Probate Court in each city and town, presided over by a probate judge who must be admitted to practice before the Rhode Island Supreme Court (§ 8-9-2.1), with the town or city clerk acting as probate clerk. There is no Surrogate's Court here, no Register of Wills, and no probate district, which is Connecticut's unit rather than Rhode Island's. The person settling the estate is an executor where there is a will and an administrator where there is not, and chapter 33-11 also calls that person the personal representative. The Rhode Island executor duties guide lists what the job asks of you once the court appoints you.

The Paths a Rhode Island Estate Can Take

Rhode Island does not offer an informal track and a formal track the way Uniform Probate Code states do. What you choose is the shape of the proceeding.

Full administration. File the petition with the Probate Court of the city or town where the decedent resided. The Department of State publishes the statewide PC form set under § 33-22-16, and every court uses the same numbers: PC-1.5 Petition for Probate of Will where there is a will, PC-1.1 Administration Petition where there is not. Notice runs two ways. The petitioner mails notice of the filing and the hearing to everyone named in the petition at least 10 days before the hearing date (§ 33-22-3), and where notice by advertisement applies the newspaper notice runs once a week for at least two weeks, with the first advertisement published at least 14 days before the hearing (§ 33-22-11). Form PC-9.1 Waiver or Advertising is how the parties waive that publication and its cost. The full list of numbers sits on the Rhode Island probate forms page.

Voluntary informal administration. Where a Rhode Island resident dies leaving personal property worth $15,000 or less, measured on the § 33-9-1 inventory and excluding tangible personal property the decedent owned, a relative or interested party may file a sworn statement instead of opening a full estate. The filing waits until 30 days have passed since the death and is barred once a petition for letters has been filed (§ 33-24-1). Where a will names an executor, that person uses the parallel voluntary executor route in § 33-24-2. Read the exclusion carefully. A car, furniture and jewelry are tangible personal property, so their value does not count toward the $15,000 ceiling, which lets more estates qualify than the number suggests. Forms PC-1.10 Petition for Voluntary Informal Administrator and PC-1.9 Petition for Voluntary Informal Executor carry the two routes.

An ancillary proceeding. When the decedent lived elsewhere and left property here, a foreign administrator, executor or guardian petitions to transfer or sell the Rhode Island estate, and § 33-22-21 measures the fee on the personal property located in Rhode Island. The Rhode Island ancillary probate guide works through that track.

Rhode Island Probate Deadlines

Put these dates on the calendar the week you open the estate. The Rhode Island probate timeline guide walks each phase in order.

The inventory rule catches people out. Within 90 days after appointment, the executor or administrator returns a sworn inventory of all personal property, tangible and intangible, plus all claims, rights and causes of action, other than real property, appraised as of the date of death (§ 33-9-1). The house stays off that list. Gather date-of-death statements early, because that window closes while a family is still sorting through the paperwork.

The Creditor Clock Runs From First Publication

Here is where competitor pages publish another state's law. Rhode Island's creditor window runs six months from the first publication of notice of the fiduciary's qualification. Not from the death. Not from the appointment date.

Section 33-11-1 sets that anchor for the whole claims chapter: periods of time are reckoned from the date the probate clerk first publishes notice of the qualification of the original personal representative. Section 33-11-5(a) then bars anything presented later. Five other rights in the table above hang on the same publication date, which is why an executor should write it down the day it happens.

A claim is presented by filing a written statement with the clerk of the probate court, stating the basis, the amount claimed, and the claimant's name and address, with a copy delivered or mailed to the personal representative. The claim counts as presented when it is filed with the court, and the claimant carries the burden of proving proper and timely presentation (§ 33-11-4).

The fiduciary owes an active duty on top of the newspaper notice. Where a creditor is known or reasonably ascertainable, the personal representative must take reasonable steps within a reasonable time after qualification to see that the creditor gets notice of the commencement of the estate, and mailing the statutory notice form to the last known address satisfies it (§ 33-11-5.1). Where the decedent was 55 or older at death, that same section requires notice to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Form PC-9.9 Notice of Commencement of Probate is the one the statute prints.

Two escape valves close the system. A creditor who missed the window through accident, mistake, excusable neglect or lack of adequate notice may petition before distribution for leave to file late, and a § 33-11-5.1 notice sent at least 60 days before the six-month mark is deemed adequate notice that defeats that excuse. Then § 33-11-50 bars any suit against the personal representative brought more than two years after first publication, and after any order of distribution.

If the estate cannot pay everyone, the payment order decides who gets paid. Section 33-12-11 puts funeral charges first, after deducting the charges of administration and the property set off to the surviving spouse and family, then last-sickness expenses, debts due the United States, debts due Rhode Island and state and town taxes, child support, wages earned in the six months before the death up to $1,000 per person, state lottery proceeds, other debts filed within six months of the first notice, and everything else last. Creditors inside a class share ratably, and no class gets a dollar until the class above it is paid in full. The Rhode Island creditor claims guide and the Rhode Island debt payment priority guide work through both lists.

What Rhode Island Probate Costs

The court fee is the same in all 39 cities and towns, because a statute sets it and a local rule cannot move it. Section 33-22-21 charges, for every petition to appoint a custodian, administrator, guardian or conservator, or to probate a will, 1.0 percent of the personal property of the decedent over which the court has jurisdiction, never less than $30 and never more than $1,500. Section 33-22-29 then tells each probate court to adopt local administrative rules while forbidding any such rule to "expand, contract or otherwise vary any specific provision of title 33." Session times and docket procedure are local. The tariff is not.

Three things about that fee surprise people.

• The base is personal property only. Real property never enters it, because the § 33-9-1 inventory the fee is measured against covers everything other than real property. A Rhode Island house does not raise the filing fee by a dollar.
• The counter total carries a $4 add-on. Section 42-8.1-20(b) imposes a $4 Rhode Island Historical Records Trust assessment on every instrument filed for recording under § 33-22-21, so the figures a clerk quotes are $34 at the floor and $1,504 at the ceiling. Town charge sheets across the state print those two numbers, and they are the statute plus the assessment rather than a local surcharge.
• The fee flattens. One percent of $3,000 is $30, and one percent of $150,000 is $1,500. So the floor governs every estate below $3,000 of personal property, and the ceiling governs every estate above $150,000 of it. There are no brackets to look up.

The petition fee is paid before the petition is filed, computed on the petitioner's own estimate, and revised later with a further payment or a rebate if the estimate turns out wrong. It also stands "in lieu of all subsequent filing and recording fees in the same proceedings," apart from the short list of extras: $5 for a certificate of appointment, $1.50 per page for copies, and $3.00 to certify a probate document. The small estate route costs $30 to file plus $5 for the certification of appointment, which is $39 at the counter once the records assessment is added.

Newspaper advertising is a separate charge and the one probate money figure that genuinely varies by town. Section 33-22-11 has the clerk collect the newspaper's price in advance and pay it over monthly, so it is a printing cost rather than a court fee, and rates differ from one city or town to the next. Ask your clerk for the current figure.

Budget for two more items. A bond is the default: every executor and administrator gives bond to the probate court before entering on the trust, with sufficient surety, in the sum the court requires (§ 33-17-1). No surety is required where the administrator of an intestate estate is the surviving spouse or the sole heir, and the court may waive surety for another heir at law who shows that the circumstances warrant it (§ 33-17-1.2). The Rhode Island bond requirements guide covers when that happens. Fiduciary compensation is discretionary rather than a percentage: § 33-14-8 allows the executor or administrator "such compensation for their services as the probate court shall consider just."

The Estate Tax Statement Rhode Island Asks For

Here is the requirement families miss. Every executor, administrator and heir at law files a statement under oath with the tax administrator within nine months after the death, 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 (§ 44-23-1). For a death before January 1, 2025 that filing carried a $50 fee. For a death on or after that date, subsection (c) removes the fee.

The Division of Taxation runs the return itself. Every estate of a decedent dying on or after January 1, 2015 uses Form RI-706, and an estate is non-taxable when the gross estate falls below the year's threshold. For a death on or after January 1, 2026 that threshold is a gross estate of more than $1,838,056; for 2025 it was $1,802,431. Gross estate means full fair market value before deductions such as mortgages, debts and claims. A statutory lien attaches to Rhode Island real estate and to interests in certain securities, and it stays until the return is filed and the tax and fees are paid, which is why non-taxable estates still file: Form T-77 discharges the lien on real property and Form T-79 discharges it on securities. A six-month filing extension is available on Form RI-4768, and interest and penalty accrue from the original due date regardless. The Rhode Island estate tax guide covers the return and the federal side.

When Rhode Island Probate Is Not Needed

Probate reaches property held in the decedent's sole name with no built-in transfer. Plenty skips it:

• Accounts and policies with a named beneficiary, including life insurance and retirement plans.
• Securities registered in beneficiary form under the Uniform Transfer on Death Security Registration Act. A security transferred that way "is not considered an asset of the decedent's estate subject to probate" (§ 7-11.1-10).
• Real estate held in joint tenancy, where the deed says so in words.
• Assets already titled in a revocable living trust.
• A small estate that qualifies for the voluntary informal route, which is a short sworn filing with the clerk rather than a full administration.
• A motor vehicle passing to a surviving spouse. Unless the will provides otherwise, a decedent's vehicles belong to the surviving spouse, and the Division of Motor Vehicles issues the new title with no fee charged to that spouse (§ 31-3.1-37).

Two warnings, because national pages get both backward.

Rhode Island has no transfer-on-death deed for real property. Title 34 creates no death-triggered deed, so a Rhode Island house stays in the estate unless a trust, a life estate deed or survivorship titling moves it. Form sellers advertise a Rhode Island transfer-on-death deed anyway. There is no such instrument here.

A Rhode Island deed to two people is a tenancy in common unless it says otherwise. Section 34-3-1 presumes tenancy in common for any conveyance to two or more people, expressly including husband and wife, and survivorship exists only where the deed declares the tenancy joint or names "the survivors or survivor of them." Married couples who assume their house passes automatically are often wrong. The how to avoid probate in Rhode Island guide compares the options that do work.

Closing the Estate, and When to Call a Lawyer

A Rhode Island fiduciary closes by accounting to the court. The executor or administrator returns an account on completion of the period of administration and whenever the court requires one, with no interim accounting unless an interested party asks for it. Where the fiduciary is the sole beneficiary, or files a release from each beneficiary, an affidavit of complete administration takes the place of a final account, filed with evidence that the Rhode Island estate and inheritance taxes are satisfied, the funeral bill is paid, and the filed claims are settled (§ 33-14-1). The Rhode Island probate accounting guide walks that choice.

Do not forget the land records. Where the decedent's real property is devised, distributed, set out or descends to an heir, a devisee or a spouse, the executor or administrator records a certificate of descent in the land evidence records of every city or town where that property sits, and the certificate is prima facie evidence of the facts it states (§ 33-9-29). Skipping it leaves a title problem for the next sale.

An uncontested estate with a clear will is manageable on your own, and the Rhode Island probate without a lawyer guide shows how far self-representation goes. Bring in counsel when:

• Heirs disagree about the will, the assets or who should serve. An appeal runs to the Superior Court, and the two deadlines in § 33-23-1 are jurisdictional and cannot be extended: 20 days to file the claim of appeal with the probate clerk, 30 days to file the reasons of appeal in the Superior Court. The appeal is heard de novo rather than on error.
• The estate cannot cover its debts, so the § 33-12-11 order decides who gets paid.
• Real property has to be sold, or the estate tax lien has to be discharged before a closing.
• A surviving spouse is weighing rights that expire six months after first publication. Those include the elective share under § 33-28-4, the life estate claimed by waiving a devise under § 33-25-4, and, in an intestate estate, the discretionary set-off of real estate up to $150,000 in value under § 33-1-6. The Rhode Island surviving spouse rights guide explains each one, and the Rhode Island will requirements guide covers what makes the will provable in the first place.

A Filing Sequence That Works

1. Gather the original will, certified death certificates, account statements, deeds and vehicle titles.
2. Confirm the city or town where the decedent was domiciled at death, then find that municipality's Probate Court.
3. Decide the path: a voluntary informal filing under § 33-24-1 or § 33-24-2, a full administration, or an ancillary proceeding.
4. File PC-1.5 or PC-1.1 with the clerk, pay the § 33-22-21 fee on your estimate of the personal property, and mail notice at least 10 days before the hearing.
5. Attend the hearing, post the bond if the court requires one, and buy the certificates of appointment the banks will ask for.
6. Write down the date of first publication. Five separate six-month clocks run from it.
7. Mail the § 33-11-5.1 notice to every known creditor, and to the Executive Office of Health and Human Services if the decedent was 55 or older.
8. File the inventory of personal property within 90 days of your appointment.
9. Pay allowed claims in the § 33-12-11 order and keep a receipt for every payment.
10. File the § 44-23-1 estate tax statement by the nine-month mark, on Form RI-706.
11. Record the certificate of descent for any Rhode Island real property.
12. File the final account or the affidavit of complete administration, then distribute on the court's decree.

Confirm every date and dollar figure with the clerk of your city or town Probate Court before you act. This page is general information about Rhode Island estates. Check anything that affects your own situation with the Probate Court or a licensed Rhode Island attorney.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is probate in Rhode Island?

Probate in Rhode Island is the court process that proves a will, appoints an executor or administrator, settles debts and taxes, and passes what is left to the heirs or beneficiaries. It runs under R.I. Gen. Laws Title 33, and the case is heard by a Probate Court in the city or town where the decedent lived.

Which Rhode Island Probate Court handles my case?

The Probate Court of the city or town where the decedent was domiciled at death. Rhode Island has no county probate court and no county government. Section 8-9-9 gives every probate court jurisdiction in the town or city in which it is established, so each of the 39 cities and towns runs its own court, and the town or city clerk serves as the probate clerk under § 8-9-6.

How long does probate take in Rhode Island?

Most straightforward Rhode Island estates run about 9 to 15 months. The fiduciary files an inventory within 90 days of appointment under § 33-9-1, waits out the six-month creditor window that starts at the first publication under § 33-11-5, and files the estate tax statement due nine months after the death under § 44-23-1. Contested estates run longer.

How long do creditors have to file a claim in Rhode Island?

Six months from the first publication of notice of the fiduciary's qualification, not from the date of death. Section 33-11-5(a) says claims presented after that are forever barred, and § 33-11-1 fixes first publication as the anchor for the whole chapter. A creditor may petition for leave to file late, and § 33-11-50 bars any suit brought more than two years after first publication.

How much does probate cost in Rhode Island?

The court fee is statewide. Section 33-22-21 charges 1.0 percent of the decedent's personal property, never below $30 and never above $1,500, and § 42-8.1-20 adds a $4 records assessment, so the counter figures are $34 and $1,504. Real property is not in the fee base, so the fee stops rising once personal property reaches $150,000.

Do I need a lawyer for Rhode Island probate?

No. Rhode Island lets an executor or administrator serve without an attorney, and many families settle an uncontested estate themselves. Hire counsel when heirs disagree, when the estate cannot pay its debts, when real property has to be sold, or when a surviving spouse is weighing the elective share under § 33-28-4.

Sources:

• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 8-9-9, General probate jurisdiction. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE8/8-9/8-9-9.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 8-9-6, Town or city clerk as clerk of court. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE8/8-9/8-9-6.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-7-5, Duty of person in possession of will to deliver into court. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-7/33-7-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-8-3, Neglect to present will for probate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-8/33-8-3.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-8-8, Administration of intestate estate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-8/33-8-8.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-9-1, Return of inventory of estate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-9/33-9-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-11-1, Computation of time. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-11/33-11-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-11-5, Time allowed for presenting claims, late claims, appeal. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-11/33-11-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-11-5.1, Duty to notify known or reasonably ascertainable creditors. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-11/33-11-5.1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-11-50, Limitation of actions by creditors of decedent. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-11/33-11-50.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-12-11, Order of preference of debts. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-12/33-12-11.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-22-11, Notice by advertisement. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-11.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-22-21, Fees enumerated, hearing date to be noted on receipt. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-21.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-22-29, Local rules of probate court. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-22/33-22-29.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-24-1, Voluntary informal administration of small estates. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-24/33-24-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 33-23-1, Filing of claim of appeal, record, and reasons. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-23/33-23-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 42-8.1-20, Rhode Island Historical Records Trust established. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE42/42-8.1/42-8.1-20.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 34-3-1, Tenancy in common presumed in conveyances. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-3/34-3-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 7-11.1-10, Nontestamentary transfer on death. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE7/7-11.1/7-11.1-10.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws Section 44-23-1, Statements filed by executors, administrators, and heirs-at-law. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-23/44-23-1.htm
• Title: Estate Tax. Publisher: Rhode Island Division of Taxation. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://tax.ri.gov/tax-sections/estate-tax
• Title: Probate Forms. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/business-services/probate-forms

It is not legal advice.