Rhode Island inheritance laws decide who gets what when someone dies, whether the decedent left a will or not. The state treats real estate and personal property under separate distribution rules, guarantees a surviving spouse a life estate in the decedent’s real property regardless of what a will says, protects children born after a will is signed, and taxes estates worth more than $1,838,056 for deaths in 2026.1RI Division of Taxation. 2026 Tax Changes Advisory Rhode Island does not impose a separate inheritance tax on heirs.
Who Inherits When There Is No Will
If a Rhode Islander dies without a valid will, the state’s intestacy statutes decide the distribution, and they treat real estate and personal property differently.
Real Estate
A surviving spouse takes a life estate in every piece of real property the decedent owned outright at death. The spouse can live in the property or collect its income for life, but cannot sell it without court involvement, and the property eventually passes to the decedent’s other heirs.2Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-25-2 – Life Estate to Spouse Children or other descendants take the remainder interest.3Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-1-1 – Real Estate Descending by Intestacy to Children or Descendants, Parents, or Brothers and Sisters
If the decedent left no children, the probate court may set off real estate worth up to $150,000 to the surviving spouse outright, free of any remainder. With no spouse and no children, real estate passes to the decedent’s parents, then to siblings, then to more distant relatives.
Personal Property
Personal property follows a separate formula. If the decedent had no children, the surviving spouse receives $50,000 from the surplus personal estate plus half of what remains. If there are children, the spouse takes half and the children split the other half equally.4Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-1-10 – Surplus of Personal Estate With no spouse or descendants, personal property passes to parents, then siblings, then more distant kin. If no legal heir can be found, the estate escheats to the state.5Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-21.1-3 – Escheatment
What a Surviving Spouse Is Guaranteed
Rhode Island protects a spouse from being written out of an estate through two overlapping rights.
Life Estate in Real Property
No matter what the will says, a surviving spouse holds a life estate in all real estate the decedent owned in fee simple at death. The spouse can occupy the property or collect its income for life, subject to any existing mortgages or liens.2Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-25-2 – Life Estate to Spouse Real estate the decedent transferred and properly recorded before death is generally outside this right.
Elective Share and a Six-Month Deadline
A spouse who is unhappy with what a will provides can reject it and elect instead to take what intestacy would have given: the life estate in real property plus the intestate share of personal property.6Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-28-1 – Elective Share Statutory family allowances stack on top of the elective share rather than reducing it.
The claim must be filed in probate court within six months after the will is admitted to probate.7Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-28-4 – Proceeding for Elective Share, Time Limit Miss that window and the right is gone. Courts enforce the deadline strictly, and it is one of the most commonly forfeited rights in Rhode Island probate.
Children, Adopted Children, and Stepchildren
Biological and legally adopted children have identical inheritance rights. Once an adoption is final, the adopted child is treated as though born to the adoptive parents for both intestacy and will interpretation.8Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 15-7-16 – Inheritance by and From Adoptive Kindred One narrow limit: someone adopted after age 18 does not automatically qualify as an heir under a trust or similar instrument created by someone who died before that adoption.
Stepchildren who were never legally adopted inherit nothing under intestacy. They can only inherit if a will, trust, or beneficiary designation names them. Blended families miss this regularly.
Children born or adopted after a will is signed are protected by the pretermitted heir statute. If the parent’s will doesn’t mention them, the law presumes the omission was accidental and gives that child an intestate share, unless the parent clearly intended to leave them out or provided for them another way, such as through a trust or life insurance.9Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-6-23 – Pretermitted Issue
What Makes a Rhode Island Will Valid
A will that meets Rhode Island’s requirements overrides the intestacy rules. A will that falls short can be thrown out entirely, sending the estate back to the default statutes.
The person making the will must be at least 18 and of sound mind, meaning they understand what they own, who their heirs are, and what signing a will means.10Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-5-2 – Capacity to Make a Will The document must be written and signed by the person making it, or by someone else at their direction in their physical presence. Two witnesses must sign in the presence of the person making the will.11Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-5-5 – Execution of Will, Acknowledgment and Attestation
Witnesses should not be beneficiaries. If a witness also inherits under the will, that person’s gift may be voided.12Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-6-1 – Gifts to Attesting Witnesses Rhode Island does not recognize handwritten unwitnessed wills or oral wills.
Changes, Revocation, and Life Events
A codicil can amend a will, but it must be signed and witnessed the same way as the original.11Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-5-5 – Execution of Will, Acknowledgment and Attestation A will can also be revoked by writing a new one that cancels it, or by physically destroying the original.
Some life events change a will automatically. Marriage revokes an earlier will unless the will was made in contemplation of that marriage.13Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-5-9 – Revocation of Will by Marriage Divorce revokes provisions benefiting a former spouse. Updating the document after any major life change is worth the effort.
No-Contest Clauses
Rhode Island probate courts have enforced no-contest (in terrorem) clauses as written. A typical clause cuts a challenging beneficiary’s share and shifts the estate’s legal costs onto them. Anyone thinking about contesting a will that contains one should weigh what they stand to lose against what they hope to gain.
Assets That Skip Probate
Several common assets pass directly to a named beneficiary or surviving co-owner and never enter probate:
- Life insurance and annuity proceeds go to the beneficiary named on the policy.
- Property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship passes to the surviving co-owner.
- Retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s transfer to the beneficiary named on the account.
- Assets held in a revocable living trust distribute under the trust terms, not the will.
Beneficiary designations override anything the will says. A will that leaves a retirement account to a child means nothing if the account’s beneficiary form still names an ex-spouse; the ex-spouse gets the money. Keeping designations current after divorce, remarriage, or a birth matters as much as keeping the will current.
A beneficiary who does not want an inherited asset can formally refuse it under Rhode Island’s disclaimer statute.14Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 34-5-2 – Disclaimer of Interest in Estate A valid disclaimer must be in writing, and the property then passes as if the beneficiary had died before the decedent.
How Probate Works
When probate is needed, the case is filed in the probate court for the city or town where the decedent last lived. A family member or other interested party files a petition, submits the will and death certificate if a will exists, or asks for intestate administration if not. The court notifies heirs and creditors, and objections to the will’s validity can be raised at the initial hearing.
The court then appoints a personal representative: the executor named in the will, or an administrator if no will exists or the named executor cannot serve. The representative usually posts a bond unless the will waives it.15Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-18-1 – Publication of Qualification of Fiduciary, Statement Filed by Clerk
After appointment, the representative publishes notice to creditors and prepares an inventory of assets. Creditors generally have six months to submit claims.16Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-11-5 – Time Allowed for Presenting Claims, Late Claims, Appeal Funeral expenses and probate costs are paid first, then secured creditors and other obligations. Only after valid debts are settled does anything reach the heirs. Before closing the estate, the representative files a final account showing income received, debts paid, and proposed distributions.17Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-14-1 – Times When Accounts Required If nobody objects, the court approves it, the representative distributes what remains, and the estate closes.
The Small Estate Shortcut
If the estate consists entirely of personal property worth $15,000 or less (excluding tangible personal property the decedent owned), a qualifying person can skip formal probate by filing a voluntary informal administration affidavit.18Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws Section 33-24-1 – Voluntary Informal Administration of Small Estates The filer must be a Rhode Island resident of full legal capacity, no formal petition can already be pending, and the affidavit cannot be filed until 30 days after the death. This shortcut does not apply to any estate that includes real estate.
Estate Tax
Rhode Island taxes estates that exceed $1,838,056 for decedents dying in 2026, and the threshold adjusts each year for inflation.1RI Division of Taxation. 2026 Tax Changes Advisory Estates at or below the threshold owe no state estate tax. Above it, graduated rates run up to 16%.
The federal estate tax is separate and applies only to far larger estates. The 2026 federal exemption is $15,000,000, so most Rhode Island estates that owe state tax will not owe federal tax.19Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax
Rhode Island does not have an inheritance tax. Heirs do not pay tax on what they receive. The estate itself pays, and the personal representative must handle that before distributing assets.
The representative files Form RI-706 with the Rhode Island Division of Taxation within nine months of death, and payment plus the filing fee is due by the same deadline.20RI Division of Taxation. Estate Tax The state places a lien on estate property until the tax is paid. Deductions for charitable gifts, debts, and administrative costs can reduce the bill, and extensions are available if requested before the deadline passes.