Selling Inherited Property in Rhode Island

An inherited Rhode Island house in the deceased owner's sole name sells once two things are true. Someone holds authority to sign the deed, and the Rhode Island estate tax lien has been discharged. Authority comes from a power of sale in the will or from a probate court decree under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-3. The discharge comes from the Division of Taxation on Form T-77.

Those two items stall more Rhode Island closings than anything else. Below are both, plus recording in the land evidence records of the city or town, the conveyance tax the seller writes a check for, the 6 percent withholding that catches out-of-state heirs, and the capital gains math after the basis step-up. For the wider court process behind all of it, read the Rhode Island probate guide.

Does the House Have to Go Through Probate Court First?

Start with the recorded deed, not the will. How the deceased owner held title decides whether a court file stands between you and a closing.

One Rhode Island rule reorders that table more often than any other. Section 34-3-1 says every conveyance made to two or more persons, "whether they be husband and wife or otherwise," creates a tenancy in common and not a joint tenancy, unless the deed declares the tenancy is joint, runs to those persons and the survivor of them, runs to them as trustees or executors, or otherwise shows a manifest intention to take as joint tenants. Rhode Island wrote the married couple into the default rather than out of it. A couple who bought together and assumed the survivor would simply keep the house may each hold a tenancy in common share, and the deceased spouse's share is now estate property that needs a court file before it can be sold.

Rhode Island also has no transfer-on-death deed for real estate, so no recorded beneficiary designation moves a house the way one moves a brokerage account. Our guide to how to avoid probate in Rhode Island covers what does work instead.

The Surviving Spouse's Life Estate Is a Title Problem Buyers Find

Pull this one before you sign a listing agreement, because a title examiner will find it later and stop the closing.

Section 33-25-2(a) says that whenever a person dies leaving a husband or wife surviving, the real estate the decedent owned in fee simple at death descends and passes to that spouse for the spouse's natural life, subject to any encumbrances existing at death. No will is needed to create it, and no will defeats it: § 33-25-3 says the life estate takes effect despite any provision of the decedent's will, except as provided in § 33-25-4, and takes precedence over creditors of the decedent and the estate, except claims secured by a lien or other encumbrance on the real estate.

Three consequences for a sale:

• The surviving spouse joins the deed, or waives. A buyer taking title subject to an outstanding life estate is buying a remainder interest. Section 33-25-4 is the release valve in the other direction: where the will devises or bequeaths something to the surviving spouse, that gift bars the life estate unless the spouse files a written waiver and claim in the probate court within six months after the first publication of the fiduciary's qualifications.
• That waiver gets recorded too. Where any of the real estate sits in a city or town other than the one where the will is probated, § 33-25-4 requires the waiver and claim to be filed in the records of deeds in each city and town where the land sits.
• The court can cash the spouse out. Section 33-25-5 lets the court, on the surviving spouse's own petition and after notice, determine the present value of the life estate and order it paid out of the sale proceeds in lieu of the life estate. The decision is discretionary and the spouse has to ask.

Where the decedent left no will, § 33-1-5 reaches the same result and § 33-1-6 adds a second layer: the probate court may, on a petition filed within six months of the first publication of notice of the administrator's qualification, set off to the surviving spouse up to $150,000 of Rhode Island real estate in fee, over and above all encumbrances, if it is not needed to pay debts. Title does not move on the decree alone. A certified copy of the decree has to be recorded in the land evidence records of the town or city where the land sits before the spouse can convey. Work through Rhode Island surviving spouse rights before you set a closing date.

Who Signs the Deed

Two routes give a Rhode Island fiduciary the power to convey.

A power of sale in the will. Read the will first. That clause decides whether the sale moves in weeks or in months.

A probate court decree. Section 33-19-3 lets the probate court that issued the letters grant authority to an executor or administrator to sell the decedent's real estate, for cash or on credit, on a petition describing the particular estate to be sold and setting forth the facts the petition rests on. The statewide form is PC-4.2, Petition for the Sale or Mortgage of Real Estate, published by the Rhode Island Department of State.

Six sections shape how that filing goes:

• A bond comes before the sale. Section 33-19-7 makes every executor or administrator empowered to sell under § 33-19-3 give bond, with surety satisfactory to the court, that the proceeds go to the purpose the sale was made for. The form is PC-3.8, Bond for Sale Mortgage or Real Estate of Deceased Person or By Guardian-Conservator.
• Auction or private contract is the fiduciary's option, inside the decree. Section 33-19-9 authorizes either, and a private-contract sale may not go below the sum the court fixed in the decree. On petition with notice, the court may also let the petitioner become the purchaser where that will not prejudice the estate.
• An auction carries a four-week publication run. Section 33-19-10 requires notice of the time, place and conditions of sale published for four successive weeks in a newspaper the court designates in the decree, plus whatever additional notice the decree directs. Budget the newspaper cost and the calendar before you pick auction over a listing.
• The decree has a shelf life. Section 33-19-6 keeps a license to sell in force for one year and a license to mortgage for six months from the date of the decree, and then adds that the conveyance may still be executed and delivered after those periods.
• The deed carries the decedent's title. Section 33-19-15 says the fiduciary's conveyance makes as good a title to the purchaser as the testator or intestate could have made in life.
• Buyers are protected from paperwork slips. Section 33-19-5 makes the court's adjudication that the sale is required final so far as it affects title, and § 33-19-21 saves the sale from an irregularity, including a deed delivered more than a year after the decree, where the court had jurisdiction, any required bond was approved, auction notice was given as ordered, and a good-faith purchaser holds the property.

Start with the executor's authority to sell, then check the city or town court that hears the petition. Rhode Island's five counties run no probate court. Section 8-9-9 gives every probate court jurisdiction "in the town or city in which it is established," so the petition goes to the court of the city or town where the decedent lived.

When the Will Names Who Gets the House

A specific devise changes the arithmetic. Section 33-12-6 lets the fiduciary sell real estate even where the personal property covers the debts, whenever the probate court in its discretion finds a sale desirable in settling the estate promptly and well. The same section then blocks that route for real estate under a specific devise unless the specific devisees consent in writing, and it says an executor holding a valid power of sale under the will may convey property under a specific devise with the written consent of the specific devisee. Collect those consents before you file.

Where the money is the reason for the sale, § 33-12-4 applies: if the personal property is insufficient to pay debts, funeral expenses, charges of administration, family support and legacies charged on the land, the fiduciary sells or mortgages so much of the real estate as the decree covers. Section 33-12-1 makes the estate, real and personal, chargeable with all of it. Read the Rhode Island rules on handling estate debts before you hand anyone a check, because claims run six months from the first publication under § 33-11-5.

One quirk surprises heirs who expected a cash split. Section 33-19-23 treats surplus proceeds left on the settlement of the final account as real estate, so they pass to the same people, in the same proportions, who would have taken the land itself. Selling the house does not convert it into an ordinary residue.

The Estate Tax Lien Is the Closing Blocker

Rhode Island puts a statutory lien on the decedent's real property, and no title company closes over it.

Section 44-23-9(a) says the estate tax is due and payable as provided in § 44-23-16 and "shall be and remain a lien upon the estate until it is paid," and it makes every executor, administrator and trustee personally liable for the tax until it is paid. Section 44-23-12 is how the lien reaches the land records: once a statement showing ownership of real property is filed, the tax administrator notifies the recorder of deeds or the clerk of the city or town where the property sits, who notes the decedent's name and the fact that all real property belonging to the decedent is impressed with a lien. On discharge, the tax administrator sends a further notice showing the discharge and the manner of it.

The cure runs through the Division of Taxation, not the probate court:

1. File Form RI-706. The Division of Taxation requires the RI-706 for every estate of a decedent dying on or after January 1, 2015, whether the estate is taxable or not, and lists obtaining the discharge of the automatic statutory lien as one reason a non-taxable estate files.
2. File Form T-77, Discharge of Estate Tax Lien, with it. The Division says T-77 goes in with the return whenever the decedent had any Rhode Island interest, in triplicate, typed and without errors. The property has to be described using the tax assessor's description as of the date of death, which is the description on the city or town property tax bill, and "late of" means the city or town of the decedent's legal residence at death.
3. Watch the nine-month clock. Section 44-23-1(a) requires the statement within nine months after the death, and § 44-23-16 makes the tax due nine months after death, with interest at the § 44-1-7 rate plus 0.5 percent of the tax per month to a maximum of 25 percent. Section 44-23-1(c) drops the old $50 filing fee for deaths on or after January 1, 2025.

Whether tax is actually owed is a separate question from the lien. Section 44-22-1.1(a)(4) gives estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2015 a Rhode Island credit of $64,400, adjusted every January 1 since 2016 by the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers and rounded up to the nearest $5. The Division of Taxation publishes the resulting figure as a gross estate threshold, and for decedents dying on or after January 1, 2026 that figure is $1,838,056, measured on the gross estate before any deduction for mortgages, debts or claims. Two more rules from the same section matter to a house: subsection (d) fixes all values as finally determined for federal estate tax purposes, and subsection (e)(1) gives Rhode Island situs to real estate physically here, which pulls in a nonresident decedent who owned a house in this state.

Order the return early and clear the estate tax lien before you accept an offer, because a discharge in progress is what a buyer's attorney will ask about first.

Old deaths get a break. Section 44-23-38 says a lien created by chapter 22 or chapter 23 ceases to be a lien upon, or enforceable against, real estate ten years after the death of the person whose act, failure to act, or death gave rise to it, regardless of the date of death. A house sitting under an unaddressed lien from a 2010 death is a cheaper title problem than it looks. Ask the title company what it wants to see before you spend money at the counter.

Recording Happens in the City or Town, Never a County

Rhode Island has no county recorder and no register of deeds. Land records live with the clerk of each of the 39 cities and towns, and § 34-11-1 makes a conveyance void unless it is signed, acknowledged, delivered and recorded in the records of land evidence in the town or city where the land sits, with a saving rule that keeps a delivered but unrecorded deed good between the parties, their heirs, takers by gift or devise, and anyone with notice.

Two filings hit the land evidence records after a death, on top of the deed itself.

The certificate of descent. Section 33-9-29 requires the executor or administrator to cause a certificate of descent to be recorded in the land evidence records of every city or town in which real property of the decedent is situated, once the property is devised, distributed, set out, legally divided by all the persons interested, or descends. The certificate is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in it so far as they affect the decedent's real estate. An estate with property in three towns records in three places, and no county office catches the one you missed. The statewide form is PC-10.6, Certificate of Devise or Descent.

The proof that goes back to the court. Section 33-3-14 makes the fiduciary submit, before the probate court accepts the final account or the affidavit of complete administration, either an affidavit of no real property or a duly recorded certificate of descent. The certificate has to name each person taking, with a place of residence, describe the estate, portion or interest each one takes, and carry the fiduciary's signature. The Department of State publishes PC-10.13, Affidavit of Real Property for the other side of that choice.

Recording fees are statutory and identical in every city and town under § 34-13-7, plus a flat $4 assessment that § 42-8.1-20(b) imposes on every instrument filed for recording under §§ 33-22-21 and 34-13-7.

Read the bottom two rows carefully. Section 34-13-7 prints no line for a certificate of descent, so it falls in the catch-all row at $45. That figure is a derivation from the schedule rather than a printed line item, so confirm it with the clerk of the city or town before you budget. Section 34-13-7(c) then directs each city or town to use 10 percent of the fees it collects under the section for document preservation and technological upgrades.

The Conveyance Tax the Seller Pays

Rhode Island taxes the deed, and the seller writes that check.

Section 44-25-1(a) imposes the tax on each deed conveying realty where the consideration paid exceeds $100, at $3.75 for each $500 or fraction of it, including the value of any lien or encumbrance remaining at the time of sale. The tax is payable at the time of execution, delivery, acceptance or presentation for recording, and absent an agreement to the contrary it is paid by the grantor. The Division of Taxation confirms the practice: the tax is paid when the deed is recorded with the city or town, closing attorneys usually hold it in escrow, and the recorder shows payment by affixing a stamp to the original instrument.

Above that, a second tier applies. Section 44-25-1(b) adds another $3.75 per $500 on the consideration for residential real property that exceeds a statutory threshold of $800,000, and it directs that threshold to be adjusted by the change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, compounded annually, rounded up to the nearest $5, and never falling below the prior year. Confirm the current threshold with the Division of Taxation before you price a higher-value house.

Two transfers inside an estate escape the tax on their own terms. The tax bites only where consideration exceeds $100, so a certificate of descent moving the house from the estate to the heirs carries none. Section 44-25-2 then exempts an instrument given to secure a debt and any deed where the United States, the state, or its political subdivisions is the grantor. The later sale to an outside buyer is the taxable event.

Out-of-State Heirs and the 6 Percent Withholding

This is the Rhode Island rule that reaches into a closing and surprises a family the day of.

Section 44-30-71.3(a) makes the buyer deduct and withhold 6 percent of the total payment to a nonresident individual, estate, partnership or trust, and 7 percent to a nonresident corporation. Subsection (b) defines total payment as the net proceeds actually paid to the seller, plus the fair market value of any property transferred to the seller. Subsection (c) makes the buyer liable for the amount and turns it into a lien on the owner's property until it is remitted, and subsection (d) gives the buyer three banking days after closing to send it in. Subsection (f) takes the closing attorney, the lender and the real estate agent out of the duty entirely, and subsection (h) ends the lien ten years after the sale.

Timing decides whether the rule bites at all:

• A sale by the estate itself usually does not trigger it. Section 44-30-5(c)(1) defines a resident estate as the estate of a decedent who at death was a resident individual of this state. A Rhode Island decedent's estate is a resident seller even when the executor lives in Boston.
• A sale after distribution often does. Once the certificate of descent records and the heirs hold title, the sellers are the heirs. Heirs living out of state are nonresident individuals, and 280-RICR-20-10-1 § 1.8(A) treats every name on the deed as a separate seller no matter how they hold their interests.
• The gain election is worth real money after a step-up. Under 280-RICR-20-10-1 § 1.7(D) the buyer withholds against net proceeds unless the seller hands over a Certificate of Withholding Due at the closing. To get one, the nonresident seller files Form RI 71.3 Election with the Division of Taxation at least 20 days before the closing date, and the election is binding. Miss that window and the withholding runs on net proceeds. With multiple sellers, all of them have to agree to the gain method or everyone gets the net proceeds calculation.

Work an example. Four out-of-state siblings sell an inherited Providence house for $432,000 with $31,000 of costs, so roughly $401,000 in net proceeds. Withholding on net proceeds runs about $24,060. Withholding on the gain, where the date-of-death value already sits near the sale price, runs close to nothing. Same sale, same tax bill at the end of the year, and about $24,000 in cash held by the state for months in one case and not in the other.

The Division of Taxation publishes the whole set on its Nonresident Real Estate Withholding Forms page: the election and certificate combination form, the remittance and acknowledgement combination form, the seller's residency affidavit, the notice of sale, the affidavit of exempt seller, and the instructions. A resident seller supplies the notarized residency affidavit so the buyer has something to rely on, and 280-RICR-20-10-1 § 1.7(A) lets a recitation of residency in the deed itself discharge the lien on recording.

Capital Gains After the Step-Up

The rule that saves inheriting families the most money is federal. Under 26 U.S. Code § 1014, property acquired from a decedent takes a basis equal to its fair market value on the date of death. Decades of appreciation during the owner's life drop out of the calculation. Walk through the stepped-up cost basis for the full rule.

Take a 1950s ranch in a Rhode Island coastal town, bought in 1994:

Without the step-up the taxable gain would have landed near $309,000. Five points to keep straight about capital gains on inherited property:

• Inherited property counts as long term no matter how briefly you held it.
• Federal long-term rates run 0, 15 or 20 percent depending on your income.
• Rhode Island sets no separate capital gains rate. Section 44-30-2.7, the old preferential rate for assets held more than five years, applied only to tax years beginning in 2007 and ending before January 1, 2010. The gain now rides in Rhode Island taxable income and is taxed on the § 44-30-2.6(c)(3)(A) schedule at 3.75 percent, 4.75 percent and 5.99 percent, with the bracket dollar figures adjusted for inflation each year under § 44-30-2.6(c)(3)(E).
• An out-of-state heir still owes Rhode Island tax on the sale. Section 44-30-32(b)(1)(i) treats items attributable to the ownership or disposition of any interest in real property in this state as income derived from Rhode Island sources for a nonresident.
• The home sale exclusion under 26 U.S. Code § 121 needs two of the five years before the sale as your main home, so an heir who never lived there rarely qualifies.

Order a date-of-death appraisal and keep the report. The RI-706 filed with the Division of Taxation may already carry that value, and a written appraisal is what supports the number years later.

What the Probate Court Charges to Approve a Sale

Rhode Island runs one statewide probate fee schedule, and the house never enters it.

Section 33-22-21(a) sets the fee on a petition to appoint a custodian, administrator, guardian or conservator, or to probate a will, at 1 percent of the personal property of the decedent over which the court has jurisdiction, never less than $30 and never more than $1,500. Real estate sits outside that base. A $500,000 house adds nothing to the court fee at all, while a $200,000 brokerage account computes to $2,000 at 1 percent and is then capped back to $1,500.

Three points follow for a sale:

• The petition to sell carries no separate statutory fee. Section 33-22-21(a) makes the appointment fee stand "in lieu of all subsequent filing and recording fees in the same proceedings," except the ten items the section then lists, and a petition to sell real estate is not one of them.
• The advertising cost is real and differs by city and town. Section 33-22-11 calls for notice by advertisement once a week for at least two weeks, with the first advertisement at least 14 days before the first hearing date, in a newspaper the probate court designates that is published or distributed in the county where the matter is acted on. Where that newspaper has given the court a price schedule, the section makes the court require the cost to be paid to the clerk in advance. That figure is a third-party charge, not a court fee, and it is the one probate number that genuinely varies from one city or town to the next. Statewide form PC-9.1, Waiver or Advertising removes it where every interested party waives.
• Counter totals bundle several charges. Where a city or town posts a single figure for a sale of real estate, it is usually the statutory fee plus the § 42-8.1-20 assessment plus the advertising cost. Ask the clerk which pieces are inside the number.

The fee is paid before the petition is filed, rests on estimates the petitioner submits, and § 33-22-21(a) makes it "subject to revision whenever it appears that the estimates were incorrect," with a further payment or a rebate to follow. Rhode Island writes no general indigency waiver for a decedent's estate, so treat the fee as fixed.

When More Than One Heir Owns the House

Once the certificate of descent records, every co-owner signs the deed. Agreement is the whole game. Here are the four paths, cheapest first.

• Everyone wants to sell. List it, split the net by each share, and put the split in writing before the sign goes up.
• One heir wants to keep it. That heir buys the others out at appraised value, often with a refinance.
• The estate is still open and everyone agrees. Section 33-3-1 lets the probate court that granted administration divide an intestate's real estate among the parties entitled to it, in the proportions the law prescribes, after the debts, charges and expenses of settling the estate are paid, whenever all the parties apply in writing and describe each parcel. Section 33-3-11 runs the same procedure for real estate held in common by devise, with the surviving spouse's interest subject to chapter 33-25.
• The estate is closed and nobody will move. Section 34-15-1 lets joint tenants, coparceners and tenants in common be compelled to make partition by civil action, and § 34-15-16 lets the superior court order the whole property or any tract sold instead, at auction or by private contract under the court's direction, with a private sale barred below the sum the court fixed.

Partition is slow and it spends the family's money on lawyers, so treat it as the last option. Share the appraisal with everyone early, use one agent nobody is related to, and write down how proceeds and carrying costs get divided before the first showing.

The House Nobody Probated for Years

Two Rhode Island clocks favor a family that waited.

Section 44-23-38 ends the estate tax lien on real estate ten years after the death, whatever the date of death. And § 33-11-50 bars a creditor of the decedent from suing the personal representative, outside a suit on the fiduciary's bond, unless the suit starts within two years from the first publication and before any order of distribution. Our Rhode Island probate timeline lays those dates against the rest of the schedule.

Small estates do not help here. Section 33-24-1(a) opens voluntary informal administration only where the decedent left an estate "consisting entirely of personal property" worth no more than $15,000 on the § 33-9-1 inventory measure, exclusive of tangible personal property. Any real property closes that door. A Rhode Island house means a full appointment, which is also why § 33-9-1 keeps real property off the 90-day inventory: that inventory covers personal property, claims, rights and causes of action, and nothing else.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to go to Probate Court to sell an inherited house in Rhode Island?

It depends on how the deceased owner held title. A house in the owner's sole name runs through the probate court of the city or town where the owner lived before anyone can convey it. A house held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, held by a married couple as tenants by the entirety, or held in a funded revocable trust passes outside probate, and the surviving owner or the successor trustee signs the deed. Read the recorded deed first, because R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-3-1 presumes a tenancy in common when a deed names two people and says nothing about survivorship, even when those two people are married.

Who signs the deed when a Rhode Island estate sells a house?

The executor or administrator, once authority exists. R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-3 lets the probate court that issued the letters grant authority to sell, on a petition describing the particular estate to be sold and setting out the facts it rests on. The statewide form is PC-4.2, Petition for the Sale or Mortgage of Real Estate. Section 33-19-7 requires a bond with satisfactory surety before the sale, and § 33-19-15 says the fiduciary's deed makes as good a title as the decedent could have made.

What is the Rhode Island estate tax lien on inherited property, and what is Form T-77?

R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-23-9(a) makes the Rhode Island estate tax a lien upon the estate until it is paid, and § 44-23-12 has the tax administrator tell the recorder of deeds or the clerk of the city or town, who notes in the land records that all real property belonging to the decedent is impressed with a lien. Form T-77, Discharge of Estate Tax Lien, is filed in triplicate with the Rhode Island estate tax return to clear it. Every estate of a decedent dying on or after January 1, 2015 files Form RI-706, whether or not any tax is due, and a non-taxable estate files it precisely to get the discharge.

Where do I record the deed for an inherited Rhode Island house?

In the land evidence records of the city or town where the land sits. Rhode Island has no county recorder and no register of deeds, because its five counties run no county government. R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-11-1 voids a conveyance that is not recorded in the records of land evidence in the town or city where the property sits, except as between the parties themselves. Section 33-9-29 separately requires the executor or administrator to record a certificate of descent in the land evidence records of every city or town where the decedent held real property, on statewide form PC-10.6.

Who pays the Rhode Island real estate conveyance tax on an estate sale?

The seller. R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-25-1(a) puts the tax on the grantor or person making the conveyance, absent an agreement to the contrary, at $3.75 for each $500 of consideration or fraction of it, once the consideration exceeds $100. Subsection (b) adds a second $3.75 per $500 on residential property above a statutory threshold of $800,000, a figure the statute indexes to inflation for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026. The tax is paid to the city or town when the deed is recorded.

Do out-of-state heirs pay Rhode Island withholding when they sell an inherited house?

Yes, and the sequence decides the amount. R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-71.3(a) makes the buyer withhold 6 percent of the total payment to a nonresident individual, estate, partnership or trust. Under § 44-30-5(c)(1) the estate of a decedent who died a Rhode Island resident is a resident estate, so a sale by that estate carries no withholding. A sale after the certificate of descent has already moved title to heirs living out of state does. Those heirs can file Form RI 71.3 Election at least 20 days before closing under 280-RICR-20-10-1 § 1.7(D) to have the 6 percent measured against the gain instead of the net proceeds.

Will I owe capital gains tax on an inherited Rhode Island house?

Usually far less than families expect. Under 26 U.S. Code § 1014 the basis becomes the fair market value on the date of death, so only appreciation above that value is taxable. Rhode Island writes no separate capital gains rate. The gain rides in Rhode Island taxable income and is taxed on the R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-2.6(c)(3)(A) schedule at 3.75 percent, 4.75 percent and 5.99 percent. Section 44-30-32(b)(1)(i) makes the gain Rhode Island source income for a nonresident, so an out-of-state heir still files here.

Related Guides

• Rhode Island Step-Up in Basis: the tax half of the sale, worked line by line.
• Rhode Island Estate Tax Guide: the RI-706 return that clears the T-77 lien.
• Rhode Island Surviving Spouse Rights: the life estate that changes who signs.
• Rhode Island Executor Duties: the appointment that creates the authority to sell.
• Rhode Island Creditor Claims: the debts the sale proceeds answer for.
• How to Avoid Probate in Rhode Island: why the deed wording decided all of this.
• Rhode Island Probate Timeline: where the nine-month and six-month clocks fall.
• Rhode Island Probate Guide: how a case runs from petition to closing.
• Rhode Island Probate Courts: the city or town court that hears the petition to sell.

This guide is general information about selling inherited real estate in Rhode Island, not advice for your situation. A sale mixes probate procedure, tax and title questions that turn on your own deed and your own family, so confirm anything that affects you with the clerk of the probate court of the city or town where the decedent lived, with the clerk who holds that city or town's land evidence records, or with a licensed Rhode Island attorney and tax professional.

Sources:

• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-3: Authority to sell real estate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-19/33-19-3.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-5: Finality of decree authorizing sale or mortgage. Claims against estate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-19/33-19-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-6: Duration of authority to sell or mortgage. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-19/33-19-6.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-7: Executor's or administrator's bond to cover application of proceeds of mortgage or sale. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-19/33-19-7.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-9: Public or private sale. Petitioner as purchaser. Minimum price fixed. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-19/33-19-9.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-10: Notice of sale at auction. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-19/33-19-10.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-15: Conveyances. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-19/33-19-15.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-21: Irregularities in proceedings. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-19/33-19-21.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-19-23: Surplus real estate proceeds distributed as real estate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-19/33-19-23.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-12-1: Estate chargeable with debts. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-12/33-12-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-12-4: Sale or mortgage of real estate when personalty insufficient. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-12/33-12-4.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-12-6: Sale of real estate to effect prompt settlement of estate. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-12/33-12-6.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-29: Descent or distribution of real estate to be recorded. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-9/33-9-29.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 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 § 33-3-14: Certificate of descent. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-3/33-3-14.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-3-1: Power of probate court. Application for division. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-3/33-3-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-3-11: Division of real estate devised in common. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-3/33-3-11.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-25-2: Life estate to spouse. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-25/33-25-2.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-25-3: Life estate precedence. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-25/33-25-3.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-25-4: Election by surviving spouse. Recording of waiver and claim. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-25/33-25-4.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-25-5: Payment of value of life estate in lieu thereof. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-25/33-25-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-1-5: Life estate descending to spouse. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-1/33-1-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-1-6: Widow's or husband's allowance of real estate in fee. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE33/33-1/33-1-6.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 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 § 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 § 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 § 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 § 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 § 44-23-9: Assessment and notice of estate tax. Collection powers. Lien. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. 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. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-23/44-23-12.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 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: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-23-16: Time taxes due. Interest and additions to tax on delinquent payments. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-23/44-23-16.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-23-38: Termination of lien. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-23/44-23-38.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-22-1.1: Tax on net estate of decedent. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-22/44-22-1.1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-25-1: Tax imposed. Payment. Burden. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-25/44-25-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-25-2: Exemptions. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-25/44-25-2.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-71.3: Sale of real property by nonresidents. Withholding requirements. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-30/44-V/44-30-71.3.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-5: "Resident" and "nonresident" defined. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-30/44-I/44-30-5.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-2.6: Rhode Island taxable income. Rate of tax. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-30/44-I/44-30-2.6.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-2.7: Capital gains rates for assets held more than five (5) years. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-30/44-I/44-30-2.7.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-30-32: Rhode Island income of a nonresident individual. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE44/44-30/44-III/44-30-32.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 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 § 34-11-1: Conveyances required to be in writing and recorded. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-11/34-11-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-11-3: Creation of co-tenancies by deed. Conveyances between husband and wife. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-11/34-11-3.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-13-7: General recording fees. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-13/34-13-7.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-15-1: Cotenants of estates of inheritance. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-15/34-15-1.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-15-16: Order of sale. Publisher: Rhode Island General Assembly. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-15/34-15-16.htm
• Title: R.I. Gen. Laws § 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: Estate Tax. Publisher: Rhode Island Division of Taxation. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://tax.ri.gov/tax-sections/estate-tax
• Title: Estate Tax Forms, including Form T-77 Discharge of Estate Tax Lien and Form RI-706 Estate Tax Return. Publisher: Rhode Island Division of Taxation. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://tax.ri.gov/forms/individual-tax-forms/estate-tax-forms
• Title: Real Estate Conveyance Tax. Publisher: Rhode Island Division of Taxation. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://tax.ri.gov/tax-sections/sales-excise-taxes/real-estate-conveyance-tax
• Title: Nonresident Real Estate Withholding Forms. Publisher: Rhode Island Division of Taxation. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://tax.ri.gov/forms/individual-tax-forms/nonresident-real-estate-withholding-forms
• Title: Withholding Tax on the Sale of Real Property by Nonresidents (280-RICR-20-10-1). Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State, Code of Regulations. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://rules.sos.ri.gov/regulations/part/280-20-10-1
• Title: Probate Forms, including PC-4.2 Petition for the Sale or Mortgage of Real Estate, PC-10.6 Certificate of Devise or Descent, PC-10.13 Affidavit of Real Property, PC-3.8 Bond for Sale Mortgage or Real Estate of Deceased Person or By Guardian-Conservator, and PC-9.1 Waiver or Advertising. Publisher: Rhode Island Department of State. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/business-services/probate-forms
• Title: 26 U.S. Code § 1014, Basis of property acquired from a decedent. Publisher: Office of the Law Revision Counsel, United States House of Representatives. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section1014&num=0&edition=prelim
• Title: 26 U.S. Code § 121, Exclusion of gain from sale of principal residence. Publisher: Office of the Law Revision Counsel, United States House of Representatives. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title26-section121&num=0&edition=prelim

It is not legal advice.