Rhode Island Small Estate Affidavit: Voluntary Informal Administration
Rhode Island calls the small-estate route voluntary informal administration. A sworn statement on form PC-1.10, or form PC-1.9 where the decedent left a will, settles the estate without a full administration, and it is filed with the probate court of the city or town where the decedent lived.
Based on R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1
What Is a Rhode Island Small Estate Affidavit?
A Rhode Island small estate affidavit is the sworn statement that opens voluntary informal administration under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1, or voluntary executor administration under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2 where there is a will. A qualifying relative or interested party files the statement with the probate court of the city or town where the decedent resided, together with a certificate of death, at least 30 days after the death. The route is open when the estate consists entirely of personal property and the total that would otherwise be listed on a probate inventory under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-1, excluding the decedent’s tangible personal property, does not exceed $15,000. The clerk files the statement as a permanent record and, after the probate judge has reviewed it, issues a certification of appointment of voluntary administrator or voluntary executor. No hearing is required, though the judge may order one.
Do you qualify?
- Qualifying threshold
- $15,000 or less in personal property that would otherwise be listed on a probate inventory, excluding the decedent’s tangible personal property, and no real property in the estate at allTwo carve-outs sit inside the ceiling and they push in opposite directions. Real property is an absolute disqualifier: R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-24-1 and 33-24-2 both open with an estate "consisting entirely of personal property", so a house in the decedent’s sole name closes the route no matter how little cash there is. Tangible personal property, on the other hand, is left OUT of the count rather than charged against it, because the measurement runs on what would otherwise be listed on a R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-1 inventory exclusive of tangible personal property the decedent owned. A decedent who left a car, furniture and $14,000 in a credit union account still qualifies. Assets that pass by survivorship or by beneficiary designation never reach the probate inventory and are not counted either.
- Waiting period
- 30 days from the date of death. R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-24-1(a) and 33-24-2(a) allow the statement to be filed only "after the expiration of thirty (30) days from the death of the decedent", and only where no petition for letters testamentary or letters of administration has already been filed in the probate court of the city or town where the decedent resided. The clock runs from the death itself, not from a notice or a publication.
- Court filing fee
- $35 in statutory fees: $30 to file the statement under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1(b) or § 33-24-2(c), and a further $5 for the clerk to issue the certification of appointment. Cities and towns publish $39, because R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-8.1-20(b) imposes a flat $4.00 Rhode Island Historical Records Trust assessment on every instrument filed for recording under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21, and a certificate of appointment is one of the items that section enumerates. Newspaper advertising, where the proceeding calls for it, is the newspaper’s own charge and the clerk collects it in advance under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-11.
- Attorney
- Not typically neededNo statutory requirement; counsel helps when the debts approach the assets, when a will distributes differently from intestacy, or when anyone disputes who should serve
- Real estate
- Not covered by this procedureRhode Island real estate blocks voluntary informal administration outright. Both R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 and § 33-24-2 reach only an estate consisting entirely of personal property, so any real property titled in the decedent’s name alone routes the estate into a full administration regardless of value. Real property held jointly with a right of survivorship, or already owned by a trust, passes outside the estate and does not count. Rhode Island has not enacted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, and Title 34 contains no transfer-on-death or beneficiary deed, so a solely owned Rhode Island home has no deed workaround. That home also passes subject to the surviving spouse’s life estate under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-25-2.
Main Requirements
Countable Personal Property of $15,000 or Less
The total value of personal property that would otherwise be listed on a probate inventory under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-1, exclusive of the decedent’s tangible personal property, must not exceed $15,000 (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 33-24-1(a), 33-24-2(a)).
An Estate Consisting Entirely of Personal Property
Both sections reach only an estate consisting entirely of personal property. Any real property titled in the decedent’s sole name disqualifies the estate outright, however modest the rest of it is.
Tangible Personal Property Is Excluded From the Count
The measurement leaves out tangible personal property the decedent owned, so a car, tools and household goods do not eat into the $15,000. This is the carve-out that makes the practical ceiling higher than the figure sounds.
At Least 30 Days Since the Death
The statement may be filed only after 30 days have run from the death of the decedent. The wait is measured from the death, not from a notice, a publication or a court appearance.
No Petition for Letters Already on File
The route is unavailable once a petition for letters testamentary or letters of administration has been filed in the probate court of the city or town where the decedent resided.
The Affiant Is of Full Age, of Legal Capacity, and a Rhode Island Resident
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 lists the surviving spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, aunt or uncle, or any interested party, and requires the person to be of full age and legal capacity and a resident of this state. Under § 33-24-2 the executor named in the will has the first claim to serve, and a non-resident executor appoints a resident agent.
The Original Will Goes With a Testate Filing
Where the decedent left a will, R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2(b) requires the original will to be filed together with the statement, and the statement also names the persons who would take under that will.
Available Small-Estate Options
Voluntary Informal Administration, form PC-1.10 (R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1)
- Limit
- An estate consisting entirely of personal property, with $15,000 or less of inventory-listable value excluding tangible personal property, and no will being offered
- Real Estate
- Not included
- Timeline
- Filed at least 30 days after the death with the probate court of the decedent’s city or town; the certification issues after the judge reviews the statement, with no hearing required
- Typical Fee
- $30 to file plus $5 for the certification, so $35 in statutory fees and about $39 at the counter
Voluntary Executor, form PC-1.9 (R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2)
- Limit
- The same ceiling and the same personal-property-only rule, for an estate where the decedent left a will naming an executor
- Real Estate
- Not included
- Timeline
- The same 30-day wait; the ORIGINAL will is filed with the statement and a non-resident executor appoints a resident agent
- Typical Fee
- $30 to file plus $5 for the certification, so $35 in statutory fees and about $39 at the counter
Will Filed With No Assets, form PC-1.4 (R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-7-5(b))
- Limit
- There is a will but nothing to administer. The nominated fiduciary deposits the will with an affidavit of the death, a paid funeral bill, the heirs at law, and the fact that no letters have issued
- Real Estate
- Not included
- Timeline
- About a month. The clerk receives and keeps the will and gives a receipt
- Typical Fee
- $30 under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21(a)(4)
Full Administration, forms PC-1.5 and PC-1.1 (R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 8-9-11, 33-8-8)
- Limit
- No dollar cap. The route for any estate holding solely owned Rhode Island real property, or more than $15,000 of countable personal property
- Real Estate
- Can be included
- Timeline
- About 9 to 15 months, including the six-month creditor-claim period that runs from the first publication of notice of the fiduciary’s qualification
- Typical Fee
- One per cent of the decedent’s personal property under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-21(a), never below $30 and never above $1,500
The statement is sworn, and the voluntary administrator carries personal exposure
R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1(f) makes a voluntary administrator "liable as an executor in his or her own wrong to all persons aggrieved by his or her administration of the estate", and liable to the rightful executor or administrator if letters are later granted. The cheap route is not a shield. Debts still get paid in the R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-12-11 order of preference, funeral charges first and last-sickness expenses second, and paying a friendly creditor ahead of that order is what creates the exposure. The R.I. Gen. Laws § 44-23-1 statement to the tax administrator is due within nine months of the death from every executor, administrator and heir-at-law. Verify the values before signing, and talk to a Rhode Island probate attorney where the debts approach the assets, where a will distributes differently from intestacy, or where anyone disputes who should serve.
Step-by-Step Process
Rule Out Any Solely Owned Rhode Island Real Property
Check the land evidence records of the city or town where the decedent lived, and of anywhere else in Rhode Island the decedent may have owned land. Rhode Island records deeds municipally rather than at a county recorder. If the decedent held any real property in their own name alone, voluntary informal administration is closed and the estate opens as a full administration on form PC-1.5 or PC-1.1.
Total the Countable Personal Property
Add up what would go on a R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-1 inventory: bank and credit union accounts in a single name, brokerage accounts with no beneficiary, uncashed checks, refunds and money owed to the decedent. Leave out the decedent’s tangible personal property, which the statute excludes from the measurement, and leave out anything with a surviving joint owner or a named beneficiary. The remaining total has to come in at $15,000 or less.
Wait Out the 30 Days and Check That No Petition Has Been Filed
Covered in the "Do you qualify?" checklist at the top of this page.
Identify Who Signs
Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1 the affiant may be the surviving spouse, child, grandchild, parent, brother, sister, niece, nephew, aunt or uncle, or any interested party, provided the person is of full age and legal capacity and a Rhode Island resident. Where there is a will, R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2 puts the executor named in the will first, then any named alternate, then that same list of relatives and interested parties. An executor living outside Rhode Island appoints a resident agent.
Complete the Statement and Gather What Goes With It
Form PC-1.10 is the Petition for Voluntary Informal Administrator and form PC-1.9 is the Petition for Voluntary Informal Executor. Both come from the statewide PC series published by the Rhode Island Department of State. The statement schedules every asset titled solely in the decedent’s name with an estimated value and names the people who would take under R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-1-10. A certificate of death goes with it, and under § 33-24-2 the ORIGINAL will is filed alongside the statement.
File, Collect and Pay in the Statutory Order
File with the probate court of the city or town where the decedent resided and pay the $30 statement fee, the $5 certification fee and the $4 records assessment. The clerk files the statement as a permanent record and, once the probate judge has reviewed it, issues the certification of appointment that banks and transfer agents ask to see. Pay the funeral and last-sickness expenses and the necessary expenses of administration, then the remaining debts in the R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-12-11 order of preference, then distribute what is left.
City or Town Note: A Rhode Island small estate statement is filed with the probate court of the CITY OR TOWN where the decedent resided at death. Rhode Island has no county probate court: its five counties hold no county government and run no court, and R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-9 gives each probate court jurisdiction "in the town or city in which it is established", with R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-11 sending a decedent’s estate to the court for the place where the decedent lived. There are 39 of these courts, one for each city and town. The amounts do not change from one to the next, because R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-22-29 forbids a local administrative rule from expanding, contracting or otherwise varying any provision of Title 33. What does change locally is counter hours, the local filing practice and the newspaper rate. In most places the town or city clerk is also the probate clerk under R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-9-6, though several home-rule charter municipalities separate the two offices, so confirm which counter takes the filing.
FAQ: Rhode Island Small Estate Affidavit
Does Rhode Island have a small estate affidavit?
What is the Rhode Island small estate limit?
Can a Rhode Island small estate affidavit transfer real estate?
How much does Rhode Island voluntary informal administration cost?
Does a voluntary administrator get paid in Rhode Island?
What happens if an asset turns up after the estate is closed?
Official Forms, Sources, and VerificationOfficial references used for this page
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-1, Voluntary informal administration of small estatesRhode Island General Assembly. General Laws of Rhode Island, current text, accessed August 2, 2026.
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-24-2, Administration of small estates where executor named in will - Voluntary executorsRhode Island General Assembly. General Laws of Rhode Island, current text, accessed August 2, 2026.
- R.I. Gen. Laws § 33-9-1, Return of inventory of estateRhode Island General Assembly. General Laws of Rhode Island, current text, accessed August 2, 2026.
- Probate Forms, the statewide PC seriesRhode Island Department of State. Current official form set, accessed August 2, 2026.
Information current as of May 31, 2026
Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Rhode Island can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.